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ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT 


From an early sixteenth-century manuscript now in the possession of the British Museum. The 
shrine of Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, was a celebrated resort for medieval pilgrims. 
The city with its cathedral appears in the background. 











EARLY EUROPEAN 

CIVILIZATION 

BY 

HUTTON WEBSTER, Ph.D. 

// 

PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA 
LECTURER IN STANFORD UNIVERSITY 
AUTHOR OF “MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION,” 
“HISTORY OF MANKIND,” ETC. 


“There is no part of history so generally useful as that which 
relates to the progress of the human mind, the gradual im¬ 
provement of reason, the successive advances of science, the 
vicissitudes of learning and ignorance, which are the light and 
darkness of thinking beings, the extinction and resuscitation 
of arts, and the revolutions of the intellectual world.” 
Samuel Johnson, Rasselas. 


D. C. HEATH AND COMPANY 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO ATLANTA 
DALLAS SAN FRANCISCO LONDON 







Dios' 

. W4‘2/2; 


Copyright, 1933, 
By Hutton Webster 


No part of the material covered by this 
copyright may be reproduced in any form 
without written permission of the publisher. 


3 A 3 


PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


MAR 10 i333 

©CIA 59910 



Preface 

This book aims to furnish a concise and connected 
account of human progress during ancient, medieval, and 
early modern times. It is intended for those high schools 
and preparatory schools where ancient history, as a separated 
discipline, has been supplanted by a more extended course 
introductory to the study of recent times and contemporary 
problems. 

The book is based on the author’s Early European History , 
first published in 1917. The revision has been so extensive 
and so thorough that a new title seems to be appropriate for 
what is substantially a new work. Early European Civiliza¬ 
tion pays heed to the recommendations of the Committee of 
Five of the American Historical Association and of the Com¬ 
mittee on Social Studies of the National Education Associa¬ 
tion; follows, for the most part, the analysis of the historical 
field as worked out by the New England History Teachers’ 
Association; and should meet the requirements of the Re¬ 
gents of the University of the State of New York, of the 
College Entrance Examination Board, and of state and city 
boards of education throughout the country. 

The book contains twenty-nine chapters, of which four are 
devoted to prehistoric times and the ancient Near East, four 
to Greece, four to Rome, two to early Christianity and the 
barbarian invasions, and ten to the Middle Ages. The re¬ 
maining chapters cover the period from the dawn of modern 
times to approximately the end of the eighteenth century. 
Each chapter forms a well-defined topic, which is further 
divided and subdivided by means of the section titles (two 
hundred and thirty-two in number) and the paragraph 
headings. Frequent cross-references, by sections, bind all 
parts of the narrative together-and aid in its review. This 

iii 




IV 


Preface 


topical arrangement should also be of service in the prepara¬ 
tion of outlines covering a single chapter or several chapters. 

The adoption of the “unit-mastery” plan has made it 
possible to group the twenty-nine chapters into eight parts. 
The parts (“units”) are designed to show, by their titles, by 
their arrangement, and by the introductory statements which 
accompany them, the development of civilization during 
ancient, medieval, and early modern times. The book is also 
provided with a “prologue,” or general introduction, and 
with an “epilogue,” or general conclusion. 

There are many maps and plans, some of them new and all 
of them in close relation to the text, which they are meant 
to amplify and explain. Extensive use of the maps is fa¬ 
cilitated by the references to them in footnotes and also by 
the exercises based upon them at the end of each chapter. 
The numerous plates and illustrations likewise form an 
integral part of the text for purposes of study. These pic¬ 
tures, with their descriptive labels, ought to be carefully ex¬ 
amined in connection with every lesson. 

Teachers will find in the book, as in its predecessor, a 
variety of helps. The “Suggestions for Further Study” pro¬ 
vides extended and classified bibliographies. The “Table of 
Events and Dates,” forming the Appendix, should be con¬ 
sulted frequently, and pupils should be required to elaborate 
the brief explanations there given concerning the significance 
of each dated event. Care ought also to be taken that they 
learn the correct pronunciation of all proper names men¬ 
tioned in the text and incorporated in the Index and Pro¬ 
nouncing Vocabulary. 

Each chapter concludes with several groups of exercises, 
which may be used either in the daily recitation or for review 
after the chapter has been studied. Those under the caption 
“For Explanation” are intended to make certain that the 
pupil has become familiar with the important proper names 
met with in his reading; such names may well be entered 
in a notebook, together with brief comments on them. 
The exercises headed “For Discussion” are meant to do 


Preface 


v 


something more than test the pupil's memory of what he has 
read; they ought to make possible, as well, Socratic methods 
of teaching in the classroom. Lastly, the exercises, “For 
Further Study," provide material for investigation by pupils 
— for oral reports, essays, debates, summaries of outside 
reading, and a variety of “projects." The practiced teacher 
will be able to add much more material of this sort. 

There seems to be general agreement that the best col¬ 
lateral reading in connection with the textbook consists of 
sources. These alone supply training in historical method, 
while for vividness and interest no secondary narrative, how¬ 
ever well constructed, can rival them. Accordingly, the 
author has prepared Readings in Early European History 
(Heath, 1926), a book of extracts from the sources, chiefly 
of a biographical and narrative character. Its purpose is to 
provide immature students with a variety of extended, 
unified, and interesting readings on matters which a text¬ 
book treats with necessary, though none the less deplorable, 
condensation. Each one of the forty-seven chapters deals 
with a single epoch or personality and presents the work of 
a single author. References to the chapters are inserted 
in the present work. Numerous references have also been 
made in the paragraph headings to the author’s Historical 
Selections (Heath, 1929), a source book of the widest scope, 
covering the whole historic field, and dealing with the cul¬ 
tural development of humanity in all ages for which we have 
written records. The book consists of primary and con¬ 
temporary documents, chosen for the light cast by them on 
the beliefs, customs, and institutions of civilized mankind. 
An introductory note sets forth the significance of each 
extract and gives its source. The teacher who uses this col¬ 
lection will find in it abundant material for outside reading, 
for oral reports in class, and for essays. He will also be able 
to introduce his pupils to many of the most important and 
most interesting authorities on history. A third volume — 
Historical Source Book (Heath, 1920) — brings together some 
of the great documents illustrating the progressive develop- 


VI 


Preface 


ment of the free peoples of Europe and America in the last 
seven hundred years. This collection is intended for refer¬ 
ence, not for continuous reading. 

It is unnecessary to emphasize the usefulness of outline 
maps in history teaching. The Historical Outline Maps and 
Exercises , prepared by the author in association with Pro¬ 
fessor W. P. Webb of the University of Texas, consist of 
several books, one of them devoted to early European his¬ 
tory. Each outline is based on a map in the textbook, and 
every feature to be inserted on the outline is found on the 
text map. There are also various geographical and historical 
exercises closely correlated with the statements in the text¬ 
book. References to these outline maps have been inserted 
in the present work. 

The original edition of this book owed much to many 
helpers. The author cannot allow the new edition to go 
forth without expressing his gratitude to the teachers who 
have worked with him on it, including Mr. Donald G. 
Smith, of the Richmond Hill High School, New York City; 
Mr. B. F. Nordmann, of the Bowling Green State College, 
Bowling Green, Ohio; and Miss Ruth E. Pitt, of the East 
High School, Buffalo, New York. The author has also 
profited by the criticisms and suggestions that have reached 
him from time to time from many correspondents in different 
parts of the country. 


Hutton Webster 


Contents 


PAGE 

Illustrations .xvii 

Maps and Plans .xxii 

Plates .xxv 

Suggestions for Further Study .xxvii 

Prologue .xli 

PART I — Foundations of Civilization 

CHAPTER 

I. Earliest Man 

1. Civilization. 3 

2. The Old Stone Age. 6 

3. The New Stone Age .11 

4. The Age of Metals.14 

5. Dawn of Civilization.18 

II. The World’s Peoples 

6. Races of Man.21 

7. Human Migrations.25 

8. Languages of Man. 27 

9. Writing and the Alphabet.28 

10. The Record of the Past.32 

PART II—Beginnings of Civilization in the Orient 

III. The Lands of the East 

11. Physical Asia.37 

12. China and India.39 

13. Egypt: the Valley of the Nile.43 

14. Babylonia: the Tigris-Euphrates Valley . . 50 

15. Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine.52 

16. The Empire of Assyria.56 

17. The Empire of Persia.59 

vii 























viii Contents 

CHAPTER PAGE 

IV. Life and Thought in the Orient 

18. Rediscovery of the Orient.64 

19. Government.67 

20. Social Classes.68 

21. Occupations.70 

22. Commerce and Trade Routes.73 

23. Law and Morality.77 

24. Religion.80 

25. Literature.85 

26. The Fine Arts.86 

27. Science and Education.89 

28. Orient and Occident.92 


PART III—Classical Civilization: Greece 

V. The Lands of the West and the Rise of Greece 

29. Physical Europe.97 

30. The Mediterranean Basin.100 

31. Greece and the TEgean.102 

32. Forerunners of the Greeks.103 

33. The Greeks.108 

34. Greek Religion.112 

35. Religious Institutions.113 

36. The Greek City-States. 117 

37. Sparta and Athens.120 

38. Colonial Expansion of Greece.123 

39. Bonds of Union among the Greeks .... 125 

VI. The Great Age of the Greek City-States 

40. Greece and Persia.129 

41. Xerxes and the Great Persian War ... . 134 

42. Athens under Themistocles, Aristides, and 

Cimon.138 

43. Athens under Pericles.140 

44. Artistic and Intellectual Athens.146 

45. The Peloponnesian War.148 

46. The Spartan and Theban Supremacies . . 150 

47. Decline of the City-States.152 





























Contents 


IX 


CHAPTER PAGE 

VII. Mingling of East and West 

48. Philip and the Expansion of Macedonia . .156 

49. Demosthenes and the End of Greek Freedom 158 

50. Alexander the Great.161 

51. Conquest of the Near East .164 

52. The Work of Alexander the Great .... 169 

53. Hellenistic Kingdoms and Cities.170 

54. The Hellenistic Age.173 

55. The Graeco-Oriental World .176 

VIII. Greek Life and Thought 

56. Children and Their Training.179 

57. Women and Their Condition.182 

58. Clothing, House, and Furniture.184 

59. Daily Life at Athens.186 

60. Athenian Amusements.188 

61. Greek Literature.190 

. 62. Philosophic Thought.193 

63. Scientific Thought.197 

64. Art.203 

PART IV—Classical Civilization: Rome 

IX. The Rise of Rome 

65. Italy and Sicily .211 

66. Italian Peoples.214 

67. The Romans.216 

68. Rome under the Kings.217 

69. Roman Society.219 

70. Roman Religion. 221 

71. The Roman City-State.224 

72. Political Life in Republican Rome .... 226 

73. Expansion of Rome over Italy.230 

74. Italy under Roman Rule.232 

75. Roman Warfare.234 

X. The Great Age of the Roman Republic 

76. Rome and Carthage .239 

77. Hannibal and the Great Punic War . . . . 242 





























X 


Contents 


CHAPTER PAGE 

78. Rome Mistress of the Mediterranean . . . 245 

79. Effects of Foreign Conquest on Roman So¬ 

ciety . ..... 248 

80. The Gracchi, Marius, and Sulla.252 

81. Pompey, Cicero, and Caesar.255 

82. The Work of Caesar.259 

83. Antony and Octavian.262 

84. The End of an Epoch.264 

XI. The Mediterranean World under Roman Rule 

85. The Early Empire.268 

86. The Later Empire.275 

87. The Provinces.280 

88. The Roman Law and the Latin Language . 284 

89. The Cities.286 

90. Commerce and Industry .288 

91. Roman Society during the Imperial Age . . 290 

92. The Graeco-Oriental-Roman World .... 292 

XII. Roman Life and Thought 

93. Education.296 

94. The Home.298 

95. Daily Life at Rome.301 

96. Roman Amusements ..302 

97. Funeral Ceremonies.. 305 

98. Latin Literature.307 

99. Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting . . .310 


PART V—The Transition from Classical 
Civilization 


XIII. Christianity 


100. 

Preparation for Christianity. 

. 321 

101. 

Rise and Spread of Christianity. 

. 324 

102. 

Development of the Christian Church . . 

. 328 

103. 

The Persecutions. 

. 332 

104. 

Triumph of Christianity. 

. 334 

105. 

Christian Influence on Pagan Society . . 

. 336 























Contents 


xi 


CHAPTER PAGE 

XIV. The Barbarian Invasions 

106. Germany and the Germans.339 

107. Breaking of the Danube Barrier.343 

108. Breaking of the Rhine Barrier.346 

109. Inroads of the Huns.348 

110. End of the Roman Empire in the West . . 349 

111. The “Fall” of Rome.352 

112. Fusion of Germans and Romans.354 

PART VI — Medieval Civilization 

XV. The Germanic Kingdoms in Western Europe 

113. The Ostrogoths in Italy.359 

114. The Lombards in Italy.361 

115. The Franks.362 

116. The Franks under Charles Martel and 

Pepin the Short.364 

117. The Reign of Charlemagne.367 

118. Charlemagne and the Roman Empire in the 

West.369 

119. Otto the Great and the Holy Roman Em¬ 

pire .371 

120. The Anglo-Saxons.374 

XVI. The Northmen and the Normans 

121. The Viking Age.380 

122. Scandinavian Heathenism.382 

123. Discoveries and Settlements of the North¬ 

men .'.384 

124. Normandy and the Normans.388 

125. Conquest of England by the Danes; Alfred 

the Great.389 

126. Norman Conquest of England; William 

the Conqueror.391 

127. The Normans in Southern Italy and Sicily 393 

XVII. Feudalism 

128. Rise of Feudalism.397 

129. Feudalism as a Form of Local Government 399 























xii Contents 

CHAPTER PAGE 

130. Feudal Justice .402 

131. Feudal Warfare.405 

132. The Castle and Life of the Nobles .... 407 

133. Knighthood and Chivalry .410 

134. Feudalism as a Form of Local Industry . 414 

135. The Village and Life of the Peasants . . . 417 

136. Serfdom.418 

XVIII. The Roman Church and the Papacy 

137. The Roman Church.424 

138. Church Organization. 425 

139. Church Jurisdiction.427 

140. Monasticism.429 

141. Life and Work of the Monks.433 

142. Christian Missions in Western Europe . . 435 

143. The Friars.436 

144. The Papacy .439 

145. Power of the Papacy.441 

146. Popes and Emperors.443 

147. The Church and Medieval Society .... 448 

XIX. The Arabs and Islam 

148. Arabia and the Arabs.452 

149. Mohammed: Prophet and Statesman . . 455 

150. Islam and the Koran.457 

151. The Spread of Islam.. ; . 459 

152. Arabic Culture.464 

153. The Caliphate and Its Disruption .... 467 

XX. The Crusades 

154. Causes of the Crusades.471 

155. First Crusade.473 

156. Crusaders’ States in Syria.476 

157. Second and Third Crusades.478 

158. Fourth Crusade and the Latin Empire of 

Constantinople.480 

159. Results of the Crusades.483 

XXL The Byzantine Empire in Eastern Europe 

160. “New Rome”.487 

161. Culture of “New Rome”.488 


























Contents xiii 

CHAPTER PAGE 

162. Constantinople.491 

163. The Mongols.492 

164. The Ottoman Turks.496 

XXII. Medieval Nations 

165. Growth of the Nations.501 

166. The Norman Kingship.504 

167. Royal Justice and the Common Law . . . 505 

168. The Great Charter .506 

169. The English Parliament.508 

170. Expansion of England.512 

171. Unification of France .514 

172. The Hundred Years’ War between England 

and France.517 

173. Unification of Spain.521 

174. Austria and the Swiss Confederation . . . 524 

175. Expansion of Germany.526 

XXIII. Medieval Cities 

176. Growth of the Cities.531 

177. City Life.535 

178. Civic Industry: the Guilds.537 

179. Civic Trade and Commerce.540 

180. Money and Banking.544 

181. Italian Cities.547 

182. German Cities: the Hanseatic League . . 550 

183. The Cities of Flanders. 552 . 

XXIV. Life and Thought during the Middle Ages 

184. National Languages.557 

185. National Literatures.559 

186. Architecture: the Cathedrals.562 

187. Education: the Universities.567 

188. Scholasticism.570 

189. Science and Invention.572 

190. Popular Superstitions.574 

191. Popular Amusements and Festivals . . . 578 

192. Manners and Customs.582 




























XIV 


Contents 


PART VII — The Transition to Modern Civilization 


CHAPTER PAGE 

XXV. The Renaissance 

193. Revival of Learning in Italy.591 

194. Paper and Printing.596 

195. Revival of Art in Italy . ..598 

196. Revival of Learning and Art beyond Italy 600 

197. The Renaissance in Science.601 

198. The Renaissance in Literature .604 

XXVI. Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

199. Renewal of Exploration.609 

200. To the Indies Eastward: Prince Henry and 

Da Gama .613 

201. To the Indies Westward: Columbus and 

Magellan.615 

202. The American Indians.620 

203. Colonial Empires.623 

204. The Old World and the New.625 

XXVII. Reformation and Counter Reformation 

205. Decline of the Papacy. . 630 

206. Heresies and Heretics.634 

207. Martin Luther and the Reformation in 

Germany.637 

208. The Reformation in Switzerland.640 

209. The English Reformation.642 

210. The Protestant Sects.645 

211. The Counter Reformation.647 

212. The Religious Wars.650 

213. The Thirty Years’War .656 


PART VIII — Early Modern Civilization 

XXVIII. The Old Regime in Europe 

214. Absolutism and the Divine Right of Kings 665 


215. Privileged and Unprivileged Classes . . . 666 

216. France under Louis XIV.671 

217. Russia under Peter the Great.677 

218. Austria and Maria Theresa.681 

























Contents 


xv 


CHAPTER PAGE 

219. Prussia and Frederick the Great.683 

220. The Puritan Revolution in England . . . 686 

221. The “Glorious Revolution” in England . 692 

222. The Reforming “Philosophers”.696 

223. The “Enlightened Despots”.700 

XXIX. Expansion of Europe 

224. Mercantilism and Trading Companies . . 705 

225. The Dutch Colonial Empire.707 

226. Rivalry of the French and English in India 710 

227. The Settlement of North America .... 714 

228. The Thirteen Colonies.717 

229. Rivalry of the French and English in North 

America.720 

230. The American Revolution.723 

231. Formation of the United States.727 

232. Progress of Geographical Discovery . . . 730 

Epilogue.735 

Appendix—Table of Events and Dates.737 

Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary.741 













* 

, 

. 















































Illustrations 


PAGE 


Deposits in a Swiss Cave 4 

Prehistoric Stone Imple¬ 
ments . 7 

A Mammoth . 8 

Head of a Girl. 10 

A Swiss Lake Dwelling 
(Reconstruction) ... 12 


A Neolithic Tomb ... 13 
A Neolithic Statue ... 20 
Chinese Picture Writing 


and Later Conventional 

Characters . 29 

Egyptian and Babylonian 

Writing. 30 

Characters of the Alphabet 31 

The Great Wall of China. 40 

Confucius. 41 

Seated Buddha .... 42 

Step Pyramid of Zoser . 46 

Hall of Columns at Kar- 
nak (Restored) .... 47 

Head of Mummy of 

Rameses II. 48 

The Colossi of Memnon . 49 

Sumerian Soldiers ... 51 

A Phoenician Warship . . 53 

An Assyrian King Hunt¬ 
ing . 57 

The Dragon of Babylon . 58 

Darius I with His Attend¬ 
ants . 60 

Rock Sepulchers of the 
Persian Kings .... 61 


PAGE 


Nebuchadnezzar II . . . 63 

Egyptian Royal Diadem . 67 

Transport of an Assyrian 

Colossus . 69 

Plowing and Sowing in 
Ancient Egypt .... 70 

Tax Collecting in Ancient 

Egypt . 72 

An Early Egyptian Ship . 73 

A Babylonian Seal ... 78 

Hammurabi and the Sun 

God. 79 

An Egyptian Scarab . . 80 

A Demon. 81 

Amenhotep IV (Ikhnaton) 82 

Zoroaster. 83 

The Judgment of the Dead 84 
Egyptian Capitals ... 87 

An Assyrian Palace (Re¬ 
stored) . 88 

The Blind Harper.... 88 

A Scribe . 91 

Head of the “Sheik-El- 

Beled”. 94 

Part of “Warrior Vase” 
from Mycenae .... 105 

Cretan Marble Statuette. 106 

Bull’s Head in Relief . . 107 

The Cretan Great Mother 108 
Consulting the Oracle at 

Delphi.114 

The Discus Thrower (Dis¬ 
cobolus) .115 






















XV111 


Illustrations 


PAGE 


Gravestone of Aristion 122 
Early Greek Merchant 

Ship.123 

Woman Spinning .... 126 

A Scythian.131 

Persian Soldiers .... 132 

Greek Soldiers in Battle . 133 

“Leonidas”.135 

An Athenian Trireme . . 137 

The Olive Harvest . . . 144 

A Greek Gem.146 

An Athenian Inscription . 155 

Alexander the Great . . 161 

The Alexander Mosaic. . 165 

A Greek Cameo .... 170 

Lighthouse of Alexandria 

(Restored) .174 

The Dying Gaul .... 178 

Girls Playing Knuckle¬ 
bones .180 

An Athenian School 181 

Greek Marriage Proces¬ 
sion .183 

A Game of Dice .... 185 

Youths Playing a Ball 

Game.186 

A Banquet.187 

The Theater at Epidaurus 188 

Tragic Actor.189 

Sappho.190 

Socrates.194 

Aristotle.196 

Orders of Greek Archi¬ 
tecture .203 

Capitals.205 

Frangois Vase.206 

A Noble Etruscan Lady . 214 

The Capitoline She- 

Wolf.217 

An Italian Plowman . . 219 


PAGE 


Early Roman Bar Money 220 
Animal Sacrifice .... 224 

Curule Chair and Fasces. 225 

Roman Camp.235 

The Building of Carthage 240 
“ Publius ScipioAfricanus” 245 

A Testudo.246 

Youth Reading a Papyrus 

Roll.251 

Pompey.255 

Marcus Tullius Cicero . 256 

A Battering Ram . . . 267 

Augustus.269 

Column of Trajan ... 273 

The Mausoleum of Ha¬ 
drian .274 

Gold Medallion of Diocle¬ 
tian .276 

Gold Medallion of Con¬ 
stantine .278 

A Legionary.281 

A Roman Vehicle . . . 282 

Wall of Hadrian in Britain 283 
A Butcher’s Shop . . . 289 

A Villa.291 

Latin Inscription .... 295 

A Roman Cameo .... 296 

Roman Abacus or Count¬ 
ing Board.297 

Pompeian Floor Mosaic . 298 

House of the Vettii at 
Pompeii (Restored) . . 300 

Atrium of a Pompeian 

House .300 

A Chariot Race.303 

Gladiators.304 

Virgil and the Muses . . 308 

The Pantheon.311 

A Roman Aqueduct . . 313 

Arch of Constantine... 314 


































Illustrations 


XIX 


PAGE 

A Girl with Stylus and 


Tablets.316 

A Litter.318 

A Mithraic Monument . 323 

The Antioch Chalice . . 327 

The Good Shepherd and 

the Sheep.328 

Religious Music .... 330 

Christian Mosaic .... 332 

Coin of Constantine the 

Great.334 

Christian Tombstone from 

Spain.336 

Coins of Elis.338 

Romans Destroying a 
German Village . . . 340 

Roman Frontier Defense. 346 

Anglo-Saxon Drinking 

Horn.354 

Tomb of Theodoric at 

Ravenna.360 

Charlemagne .367 

The Iron Crown of Lom¬ 
bardy .368 

Cathedral at Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle (Aachen) .... 370 

Ring Seal of Otto the 

Great.373 

St. Martin’s Church, Can¬ 
terbury .377 

Charlemagne’s Signature. 379 

A Viking Ship.381 

Norse Metal Work . . . 383 

A Scene from the So- 
called Bayeux Tapestry 390 

Alfred’s Jewel.396 

Water Test for Witch¬ 
craft .403 

Champions Fighting . . 404 

Mounted Knight .... 405 


PAGE 


Chateau Gaillard (Re¬ 
stored) .409 

Falconry.410 

A Medieval Siege (Recon¬ 
struction) .411 

A Joust.413 

Plan of a Medieval Manor 415 
Serf Warming His Hands 419 
“When Adam Delved and 

Eve Span’’.421 

A Bishop Ordaining a 

Priest.426 

Sanctuary Knocker (Dur¬ 
ham Cathedral) . . . 428 

St. Daniel the Stylite on 

His Column.430 

Abbey of Saint-Germain 
des Pres, Paris .... 432 

A Monk Copyist .... 434 

The Spiritual and the 
Temporal Power ... 441 

Henry IV, Countess Ma¬ 
tilda, and Gregory VII. 446 

An Abbot’s Seal .... 451 

Mecca.453 

The Archangel Gabriel 
Appearing to Moham¬ 
med .455 

A Passage from the Koran 458 
Naval Battle Showing Use 
of “Greek Fire’’ ... 462 

Capitals and “Ara¬ 
besques’’ from the Al¬ 
hambra .466 

“Mosque of Omar,” Jeru¬ 
salem .470 

Combat between Cru¬ 
saders and Moslems . 472 

Effigy of a Knight Tem¬ 
plar .478 




























XX 


Illustrations 


PAGE 


“The Last Crusade” . . 479 

Seal of a Knight Templar 483 
A Crusader’s Ship . . . 486 

A Mosaic of Justinian . 490 

Hut-wagon of the Asiatic 
Nomads (Reconstruc¬ 
tion) .494 

Jenghiz Khan.495 

Mohammed II.498 

King and Jester .... 501 

The Tower of London . 503 

Extract from the Great 

Charter.507 

A Sitting of Parliament at 
Westminster .... 509 

Coronation Chair, West¬ 
minster Abbey .... 512 

St. Louis Judging Cases . 516 

Royal Arms of Edward III 518 

Battle of Crecy.519 

Carcassonne.533 

A London Bellman . . . 536 

House of the Butchers’ 

Guild, Hildesheim, Ger¬ 
many .539 

A Fair in the Fifteenth 

Century.543 

Prospecting and Digging 

for Minerals.544 

Cathedral and Campanile 

of Florence.548 

Belfry of Bruges .... 553 

Jacob Fugger.555 

Roland at Roncesvalles . 560 

Robin Hood.562 

Cross Section of Amiens 

Cathedral.564 

Gargoyles on the Cathe¬ 
dral of Notre Dame, 

Paris.565 


PAGE 

House of Jacques Cceur, 


Bourges.566 

A University Lecture . . 569 

Roger Bacon .572 

Firing a Cannon .... 574 

An Alchemist in His Labo¬ 
ratory .575 

Halley’s Comet in 1066 . 576 

Magician Rescued from 

the Devil.577 

Dancing around the May- 

pole .579 

Mummers.580 

A Miracle Play at Coventry 581 
Sulgrave Manor House . 583 

Farm Work in the Four¬ 
teenth Century . . . 584 

A Hospital Scene .... 585 

Interior of an English 
Manor House .... 588 

Petrarch.594 

An Early Printing Press . 597 

Erasmus.600 

Galileo’s Telescopes . . . 603 

Geoffrey Chaucer . . . 605 

The Globe Theater, Lon¬ 
don .606 

Shakespeare’s Signature . 607 

Geographical Monsters 610 
Vasco da Gama .... 615 

Christopher Columbus. . 616 

The “Santa Maria,” Flag¬ 
ship of Columbus . . 618 

A Maya Figurine .... 621 

Aztec Sacrificial Knife . 622 

The Gold Mines of Potosi 627 

John Wycliffe.635 

Zwingli.641 

Silver Coin of Elizabeth’s 
Reign 


644 



























Illustrations 


PAGE 


St. Ignatius Loyola . . . 648 

Charles V.651 

Henry IV.656 

Hugo Grotius.660 

English Battleship of the 
Sixteenth Century . . 662 

Costumes of the French 

Orders.667 

London Tradesmen . . . 669 

Louis XIV as the “Sun 

King”.671 

Versailles.673 

Peter the Great.679 

A Contemporary Carica¬ 
ture of Peter the Great. 680 

Maria Theresa at the Age 

of Three .682 

Frederick the Great . . 684 

Gold Coin of James I . . 687 

A Puritan Family . . . 688 

Oliver Cromwell .... 689 


xxi 

PAGE 

Specimen of Cromwell’s 


Handwriting.690 

Great Seal of England un¬ 
der the Commonwealth 691 
Silver Coin of Charles II. 692 

Canvassing for Votes . . 694 

Voltaire.698 

Rousseau.699 

Catherine II.701 

A Politician.704 

New Amsterdam in 1655. 709 

A Mogul Emperor ... 711 

Autograph of Clive . . . 712 

“Join or Die”.719 

A Stamp of 1765 .... 724 

Signatures of the Treaty 
of Paris, 1783 .... 727 

The “Discovery” . . . 732 

An Eighteenth-century 
Stagecoach.734 


















Maps and Plans 

PAGE 

Europe during the Glacial Period. 5 

Centers of Civilization in the Old World.17 

Races of Man.23 

Distribution of the White Race in Antiquity, about 1000- 

500 B.c.24 

Physical Map of Asia .38 

The Ancient Orient. between 42 and 43 

Egyptian Empire.44 

The Near East and Greece.55 

Colonization of the Mediterranean.74 

Physical Map of Europe. 98 

The Alpine Barrier.100 

Mediterranean Basin.101 

The World According to Homer.109 

The Greeks in the TEgean .Ill 

The Persian Invasions of Greece.130 

The Vicinity of Athens.139 

The Athenian Empire at Its Height, about 450 B.c.145 

Growth of Macedonia. 157 

Route of the “Ten Thousand”.163 

Empire of Alexander the Great, 336-323 B.c.167 

The Kingdoms of Alexander’s Successors about 200 B.c. . . 167 

Plan of Alexandria at the Time of Christ.171 

The World According to Ptolemy.201 

Plan of the Parthenon, Athens .204 

Italy before the Rise of Rome.212 

The Vicinity of Rome.218 

Rome in Italy.228 

Rome and Carthage in 218 B.c.. . 241 

Expansion of Roman Dominions under the Republic .... 

between 244 and 245 

Roman Empire at Its Greatest Extent . . between 276 and 277 

Prefectures of the Roman Empire about 395 279 

xxii 





























Maps and Plans xxiii 

PAGE 

Ground Plan of a Pompeian House .299 

Plan of the Basilica Ulpia, Rome.312 

The Site of Rome.315 

St. Paul’s Travels.325 

Growth of Christianity to the End of the Fourth Century . 329 

Teutonic Migrations and Conquests.342 

Europe at the Deposition of Romulus Augustulus, 476 . . . 350 

Europe in the Age of Charlemagne, 800 .. 366 

The Frankish Dominions as Divided by the Treaties of Verdun 

and Mersen.374 

Anglo-Saxon Britain.375 

Discoveries and Settlements of the Northmen.385 

Norman Possessions in Italy and Sicily.394 

Possessions of the Count of Champagne.400 

Plan of Chateau Gaillard.408 

Plan of a Medieval Manor.415 

Growth of Christianity from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Cen¬ 
tury . between 426 and 427 

Medieval Monasteries.431 

Plan of Kirkstall Abbey, Yorkshire .433 

Expansion of Islam.461 

Dismemberment of the Caliphate.468 

Crusaders’ States in Syria .477 

Mediterranean Lands after the Fourth Crusade. 

between 480 and 481 

Vicinity of Constantinople.492 

Asia under the Mongols.493 

Empire of the Ottoman Turks at the Fall of Constantinople, 

1453 . 497 

The British Isles during the Middle Ages.511 

Unification of France during the Middle Ages.515 

Unification of Spain during the Middle Ages.522 

Hapsburg Possessions, 1273-1526 525 

German Expansion Eastward during the Middle Ages . . . 528 
A Medieval Walled Town (Leicester) in Relation to Its Fields 532 

Trade Names in the Streets of Bruges.538 

European Fairs in the Middle Ages.541 

Trade Routes between Northern and Southern Europe in the 

Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries.545 

The Peoples of Europe at the Beginning of the Tenth Century 556 
































XXIV 


Maps and Plans 


PAGE 

Plan of Salisbury Cathedral, England.563 

Italy in the Fifteenth Century ..593 

The World According to Cosmas Indicopleustes, 535 . . . .611 

The Hereford Map, 1280 . 611 

Portuguese Exploration of the African Coast.614 

Behaim’s Globe.617 

Portuguese and Spanish Colonial Empires in the Sixteenth 

Century. between 624 and 625 

The World According to Ortelius (1570). 626 

The “Great Schism,” 1378-1417 . 633 

Extent of the Reformation, 1524-1572 . 646 

Europe at the End of the Thirty Years’ War, 1648 . 657 

Europe after the Peace of Utrecht, 1713.675 

Growth of Russia to the End of the Eighteenth Century . . 678 

Hapsburg Possessions, 1526-1789 681 

English Trading Companies.708 

The Dutch East Indies.710 

India in 1783 . 713 

La Salle’s Explorations.715 

North America after the Peace of Paris, 1763 . 721 

North America after the Peace of Paris, 1783 . 728 

Colonial Empires in the Eighteenth Century between 730 and 731 




















Plates 


Illuminated Manuscript. Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

Art of the Cave Man.10 

Stonehenge.11 

Israel in Egypt.58 

The Ruins of Babylon.59 

The Pyramids of Gizeh from the Air.86 

The Temple of Luxor from the Air.87 

Hermes and Dionysus.108 

The Aphrodite of Melos.109 

Reconstruction of Delphi and Olympia.114 

Temple of Poseidon at Paestum.115 

Reading from Homer.122 

Greek Girls Playing at Ball.123 

Pericles and Demosthenes .140 

A Restoration of the Parthenon.141 

Acropolis of Athens (Restoration).146 

Acropolis of Athens from the Southwest.147 

The Death of Socrates.194 

The “School of Athens”.195 

Oriental, Greek, and Roman Coins.204 

Ancient and Medieval Gems. 205 

A Roman and His Wife.222 

The Vestal Virgins.223 

Cicero Denouncing Catiline before the Roman Senate . . . 256 

Meeting of Antony and Cleopatra.257 

Julius Caesar and Augustus.270 

The Flavian Amphitheater.271 

The Roman Forum in the Fourth Century a.d .310 

The Roman Forum Today.311 

Modern Jerusalem.324 

The Christian Martyrs.325 

Rheinstein Castle.410 


xxv 

































XXVI 


Plates 


FACING PAGE 

Capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders.411 

Choir of Westminster Abbey. 518 

Joan of Arc.519 

Cathedral Square, Pisa.548 

Campanile and Doge’s Palace, Venice.549 

Reims Cathedral .564 

Milan Cathedral.565 

Magdalen College and Bridge, Oxford.570 

Mont St.-Michel, Brittany.571 

Chateau of Chenonceaux.604 

Dante and Shakespeare. 605 

Martin Luther and John Calvin.638 

The Spanish Armada.639 

Queen Elizabeth.654 

Philip II.655 

















Suggestions for Further Study 


Students of history should have access to the American Historical 
Review (N. Y., 1895 to date, quarterly, $4.00 a year). This journal, 
the organ of the American Historical Association, „ . ^ , 

Periodicals 

contains articles by scholars, critical reviews of all 
important works, and notes and news. The Historical Outlook is 
edited in cooperation with committees of the American Historical 
Association and the National Council for the Social Studies (Phila¬ 
delphia, 1909 to date, monthly, $2.00 a year). Every well-equipped 
school library should contain the files of the National Geographic 
Magazine (Washington, 1890 to date, monthly, $3.00 a year) and of 
Art and Archaeology (Washington, 1914 to date, monthly, $5.00 a 
year). These two periodicals make a special feature of illustrations. 

Useful books for the teacher’s library include Henry Johnson, 
The Teaching of History (N. Y., 1915, Macmillan, $1.80), R. M. 
Tryon, The Teaching of History in Junior and Senior Works on 
High Schools (Boston, 1921, Ginn & Co., $1.48), H. B. the study and 
George, Historical Evidence (N. Y., 1909, Oxford teaching of 
University Press, American Branch, $1.80), Frederic hlstory 
Harrison, The Meaning of History and Other Historical Pieces (new 
ed., N. Y., 1900, Macmillan, $2.00), J. H. Robinson, The New 
History (N. Y., 1912, Macmillan, $2.00), H. E. Barnes, The New 
History and the Social Studies (N. Y., 1925, Century Co., $4.00), 
and H. B. George, The Relations of History and Geography (4th ed., 
N. Y., 1910, Oxford University Press, American Branch, $2.25). 
The following reports are indispensable: 


Historical Sources in Schools. Report to the New England History Teach¬ 
ers’ Association by a Select Committe (N. Y., 1902, out of print). 

A History Syllabus for Secondary Schools. Report by a Committee of the 
New England History Teachers’ Association (Boston, 1904, Heath, 
$1.60). 

A Bibliography of History for Schools and Libraries. Published under the 
auspices of the Association of History Teachers of the Middle States 
and Maryland :(2d ed., N. Y., 1915, Longmans, Green & Co., 60 cents), 
xxvii 


XXV111 


Suggestions for Further Study 


Syllabi 


The most comprehensive dictionary of classical antiquities is 
H. T. Peck, Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and An- 
Dictionaries tiquities (N. Y., 1897, American Book Co., $8.00). 
and encycio- For chronology, genealogies, lists of sovereigns, and 
jjedias other data the most valuable works are Arthur Hassall, 

European History, 476-1920 (new ed., N. Y., 1920, Macmillan, 
$4.00), G. P. Putnam, Tabular Views of Universal History (new ed., 
N. Y., 1915, Putnam, $3.00), and Karl J. Ploetz, A Handbook of 
Universal History, translated by W. H. Tillinghast (new ed., 
Boston, 1925, Houghton Mifflin Co., $3.75). 

The Illustrated Topics for Ancient History and Illustrated Topics 
for Medieval and Modern History, arranged by D. C. Knowlton 
(Philadelphia, McKinley Publishing Co., each 65 
cents), contain much material in the shape of a syl¬ 
labus, source quotations, outline maps, pictures, and other aids. 
Other useful works are W. R. Lingo, Syllabus and Reading Ref¬ 
erences for Early European History (Philadelphia, McKinley Pub¬ 
lishing Co., 50 cents), and E. T. Smith, A New Approach to Early 
European History (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 80 cents), 
being students’ guide sheets applying the “unit-mastery” plan to 
history. Teachers will also find very valuable the Outlines of Early 
European History (Boston, D. C. Heath and Co., 40 cents), pre¬ 
pared by W. J. Young and based on Webster’s Early European 
History. 

An admirable collection of maps for school use is W. R. Shepherd, 
Historical Atlas (new ed., N. Y., 1930, Holt, $3.90), with about two 
hundred and fifty maps covering the historical field. 
Other collections are E. W. Dow, Atlas of European 
History (N. Y., 1907, Holt, $2.50), and Putnam's Historical Atlas, 
Medieval and Modern, edited by Ramsay Muir, George Philip, and 
Robert McElroy (N. Y., 1927, Putnam, $4.50). There is an in¬ 
expensive and handy Literary and Historical Atlas of Europe by 
J. G. Bartholomew in “Everyman’s Library” (N. Y., 1910, Dutton, 
$ 1 . 00 ). 

The Webster-Knowlton-Hazen European History Maps, prepared 
by Hutton Webster, D. C. Knowlton, and C. D. Hazen, include 
Wall maps nineteen maps for ancient history and twenty-six for 
and charts medieval and modern history (Chicago, A. J. Nystrom 
&Co.). These maps may also be had separately. The maps in this 
series are on a very large scale (48f X 38* inches), omit all ir- 


Atlases 


XXIX 


Suggestions for Further Study 

relevant detail, present place names in the modern English form, 
and deal with cultural as well as political subjects. They are ac¬ 
companied by a Teacher’s Manual for each of the two sections. A 
somewhat similar series of wall maps, forty-six in number, size 
44 x 32 inches, is the work of J. H. Breasted, C. F. Huth, and S. B. 
Harding (Chicago, Denoyer-Geppert Co.). The school should also 
possess good physical wall maps and blackboard outline maps. 

The Historical Outline Maps and Exercises , prepared by Hutton 
Webster and W. P. Webb, consist of three books de- 0utline ma 
voted, respectively, to early European history, modern u me maps 
European history, and world history (Boston, D. C. Heath and 
Co., each 60 cents). 

Photographs of ancient works of art may be obtained from the 
foreign publishers in Naples, Florence, Rome, Munich, Paris, 
Athens, and London, or from their American agents. T11 , » 

t ’ . , , . , ,• i , Illustrations 

In addition to photographs and lantern slides, a col¬ 
lection of stereoscopic views is very helpful in giving vividness and 
interest to historical instruction. The Keystone stereographs, pre¬ 
pared by the Keystone View Company, Meadville, Penn, may be 
cordially recommended. Notable collections are Lehmann’s Geo¬ 
graphical Pictures, Historical Pictures, and Types of Nations, and 
Cybulski’s Historical Pictures (Chicago, A. J. Nystrom & Co., and 
Denoyer-Geppert Co.; each picture separately mounted on rollers). 
The school library should also contain J. A. Hammerton’s Wonders 
of the Past (N. Y., Putnam, 4 vols.) and the volumes of Plates 
prepared by C. T. Seltman to accompany the Cambridge Ancient 
History (N. Y., Macmillan). 

To vitalize the study of geography and history there Works of 
is nothing better than the reading of modern works travel 
of travel. A few books, representative of a long list, may be men¬ 
tioned for their accuracy and interest: 

Allinson, F. G., and Allinson, Anne C. E. Greek Lands and Letters. 
Clark, F. E. The Holy Land of Asia Minor. 

Dixon, W. M. Hellas Revisited. 

Dwight, H. G. Constantinople , Old and New. 

Edwards, Amelia B. A Thousand Miles up the Nile. 

Forman, H. J. The Ideal Italian Tour. 

Fosdick, H. E. A Pilgrimage to Palestine. 

Hutton, Edward. Rome. 

Jackson, A. V. W. Persia, Past and Present. 


XXX 


Suggestions for Further Study 

Kinglake, A. W. Eothen. 

Lucas, E. V. A Wanderer in Florence. 

- A Wanderer in Rome. 

Manatt, J. I. JEgean Days. 

Marden, P. S. Greece and the JEgean Islands. 

Paton, W. A. Picturesque Sicily. 

Quibell, Annie A. A Wayfarer in Egypt. 

Warner, C. D. In the Levant. 

The following works of historical fiction comprise only a selection 
from a very large number of books suitable for supplementary read- 
Historicai ing. For extended bibliographies, see E. A. Baker, 
fiction a Guide to Historical Fiction, and Jonathan Nield, 

A Guide to the Best Historical Novels and Tales. See also Hannah 
Logasa, Historical Fiction Suitable for Junior and Senior High Schools 
(2d ed., Philadelphia, 1930, McKinley Publishing Co., $1.00). 

Blackmore, R. D. Lorna Doone. Monmouth’s Rebellion, 1685. 
Bulwer-Lytton, Edward. The Last Days of Pompeii. 

Cooper, J. F. The Last of the Mohicans. The French and Indian War, 
1754-1763. 

Dahn, Felix. Felicilas. Rome, 476. 

Davis, W. S. A Friend of Caesar. 

- God Wills It! First Crusade. 

Doyle, A. C. The White Company. The English in France and Castile, 
1366-1367. 

Dumas, Alexandre. The Three Musketeers. Time of Richelieu. 

- Twenty Years After. Time of Mazarin. 

Ebers, Georg. Uarda. Egypt, fourteenth century b.c. 

- An Egyptian Princess. Egypt, sixth century b.c. 

Eliot, George. Romola. Florence in the latter part of the fifteenth 
century. 

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Massachusetts in the 
seventeenth century. 

Hugo, Victor. Notre Dame. Paris, late fifteenth century. 

Irving, Washington. The Alhambra. Sketches of the Moors and Span¬ 
iards. 

Kingsley, Charles. Hypatia. Alexandria, 391. 

- Westward Ho! Voyages of Elizabethan seamen and the struggle with 

Spain. 

Kipling, Rudyard. Puck of Pook’s Hill. Roman occupation of Britain. 
Manzoni, Alessandro. The Betrothed. Milan under Spanish rule, 1628- 
1630. 

Newman, J. H. Callista. Persecution of Christians in North Africa, 250. 


Suggestions for Further Study xxxi 

Reade, Charles. The Cloister and the Hearth. Eve of the Reformation. 
Scott, (Sir) Walter. The Talisman. Reign of Richard I, 1193. 

- Ivanhoe. Richard I, 1194. 

Shorthouse, J. H. John Inglesant. Life in England and Italy during the 
seventeenth century. 

Sienkiewicz, Henryk. Quo Vadis? Reign of Nero. 

Stevenson, R. L. The Black Arrow. War of the Roses. 

Thackeray, W. M. Henry Esmond. England during the reigns of Wil¬ 
liam III and Queen Anne. 

- The Virginians. England and colonial Virginia in the eighteenth 

century. 

Wallace, Lew. Ben-Hur; a Tale of the Christ. 

Waterloo, Stanley. The Story of Ah. Prehistoric life. 

It is unnecessary to emphasize the value, as collateral reading, of 
historical poems and plays. To the brief list which follows should 
be added the material in Katharine L. Bates and Historical 
Katharine Coman, English History Told by English poetry 
Poets (Macmillan), and M. E. Windsor and J. Turral, LyraHistorica 
(Oxford University Press). 

Browning, Robert. Echetlos, Pheidippides, and Herve Riel. 

Burns, Robert. Scots Wha Hae Wi* Wallace Bled. 

Byron (Lord). Song of Saul before His Last Battle, The Destruction of 
Sennacherib, Belshazzar's Feast, Prometheus, “Greece” (The Corsair, 
canto iii, lines 1-54), “Modern Greece” (Childe Harold, canto ii, 
stanzas 85-91), “The Death of Greece” (The Giaour, lines 68-141), 
“The Isles of Greece” (Don Juan, canto iii), and “The Colosseum” 
('Childe Harold, canto iv, stanzas 140-145). 

Cowper, William. Loss of the “Royal George” 

Dryden, John. Alexander's Feast 
Hemans, Felicia. The Landing of the Pilgrims. 

Jonson, Ben. Hymn to Diana. 

Keats, John. Ode on a Grecian Urn. 

Kingsley, Charles. Andromeda and The Red King. 

Landor, W. S. Orpheus and Eurydice. 

Longfellow, H. W. “The Saga of King Olaf” (Tales of a Wayside Inn), 
The Skeleton in Armor, The Norman Baron, The Belfry of Bruges, 
Nuremberg, and Sir Humphrey Gilbert. 

Lowell, J. R. Rhcecus and The Shepherd of King Admetus. 

Macaulay, T. B. Lays of Ancient Rome (“Horatius,” “Virginia,” “The 
Battle of Lake Regillus,” and “The Prophecy of Capys”), The 
Armada, The Battle of Ivry, and The Battle of Naseby. 

Milton, John. Ode on the Morning of Christ's Nativity. 



xxxii Suggestions for Further Study 

Rossetti, D. G. The White Ship. 

Schiller, Friedrich. The Maid of Orleans, William Tell, Maria Stuart, 
and Wallenstein. 

Scott, (Sir) Walter. “Flodden Field” (Marmion , canto vi, stanzas 
19-27, 33-35). 

Shakespeare, William. Coriolanus, Julius Cxsar, Antony and Cleopatra, 
King John, Richard the Second, Henry the Fourth, parts i and ii, Henry 
the Fifth, Henry the Sixth, parts i, ii, and iii, Richard the Third, Henry 
the Eighth, and The Merchant of Venice. 

Shelley, P. B. To the Nile, Ozymandias, Hymn of Apollo, Arethusa, and 
Song of Proserpine. 

Southey, Robert. After Blenheim. 

Tennyson, Alfred. Ulysses, (Enone, The Death of (Enone, Demeter and 
Persephone, The Lotus-Eaters, Boadicea, St. Telemachus, St. Simeon 
Stylites, Sir Galahad, and The Revenge: a Ballad of the Fleet. 
Thackeray, W. M. King Canute. 

Wordsworth, William. Laodamia. 

Hutton Webster’s Readings in Early European History (D. C. 
Heath and Co., $2.00), and Readings in Modern European History 
Sources (Heath, $2.00) provide narrative and bibliographical 
excerpts from the sources, while the same editor’s His¬ 
torical Selections (Heath, $2.96) contains five hundred and seventy- 
five extracts from the primary and contemporary documents of 
ancient, medieval, and modern history. The extracts are accom¬ 
panied by introductions and notes. Use may also be made of the 
following collections: 

Botsford, G. W., and Sihler, E. G. Hellenic Civilization (N. Y., 1915, 
Columbia University Press, $4.00). 

Davis, W. S. Readings in Ancient History (Boston, 1912, Allyn and Bacon, 
2 vols., $2.80). 

Fling, F. M. A Source Book of Greek History (Boston, 1907, Heath, 
$1.56). 

Munro, D. C. A Source Book of Roman History (Boston, 1904, Heath, 
$1.44). 

Ogg, F. A. A Source Book of Medieval History (N. Y., 1907, American 
Book Co., $1.72). 

Robinson, J. H. Readings in European History (abridged ed., Boston, 
1906, Ginn, $2.50). 

Webster, Hutton. Historical Source Book (Boston, 1920, Heath, $1.60). 
Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History 
(N. Y., 1894-1899, Longmans, Green & Co., 6 vols., each $2.00). 


Suggestions for Further Study xxxiii 

Most of the books in the following list are inexpensive, easily pro¬ 
cured, and well adapted in style and choice of topics to the needs of 
high-school students. A few more elaborate and costly Modern 
volumes, especially suitable for teachers, are indicated works 
by an asterisk (*). For detailed bibliographies, accompanied by 
critical estimates, see A Guide to Historical Literature (N. Y., 1931, 
Macmillan, $10.50), compiled by a committee of the American His¬ 
torical Association. 


GENERAL 

Baker, J. N. L. A History of Geographical Discovery and Exploration 
(Boston, 1932, Houghton Mifflin Co., $4.00), 

Day, Clive. A History of Commerce (new ed., N. Y., 1923, Longmans, 
Green & Co., $2.50). 

* De Burgh, W. G. The Legacy of the Ancient World (N. Y., 1924, Mac¬ 

millan, $6.00). 

Gras, S. N. B. An Introduction to Economic History (N. Y., 1922, Harper, 
$2.25). 

Hoyland, J. S. A Brief History of Civilization (N. Y., 1925, Oxford Uni¬ 
versity Press, American Branch, $3.50). 

Knight, M. M. Economic History of Europe to the End of the Middle Ages 
(Boston, 1926, Houghton Mifflin Co., $3.00). 

Laistner, M. L. W. A Survey of Ancient History to the Death of Constantine 
(Boston, 1929, D. C. Heath and Co., $3.80). A college textbook, pre¬ 
senting the latest views. 

Libby, Walter. An Introduction to the History of Science (Boston, 1917, 
Houghton Mifflin Co., $2.35). 

Magoffin, R. V. D., and Davis, Emily C. Magic Spades: the Romance 
of Archaeology (N. Y., 1929, Holt, $5.00). A work of popularization, 
written by good scholars and interestingly illustrated. 

Marvin, F. S. The Living Past (2d ed., N. Y., 1915, Oxford University 
Press, American Branch, $2.00). Suggestive survey of intellectual 
history. 

Myres, J. L. The Dawn of History (N. Y., 1912, Holt, $1.00). “Home 
University Library.” 

Parsons, Geoffrey. The Stream of History (N. Y., 1928, Scribner, $5.00). 

Pattison, R. P. D. Leading Figures in European History (N. Y., 1912, 
out of print). Biographical sketches of European statesmen from 
Charlemagne to Bismarck. 

Reinach, Salomon. Apollo; an Illustrated Manual of the History of Art 
throughout the Ages, translated by Florence Simmonds (N. Y., 1914, 
Scribner, $2.00). The best brief work on the subject. 

* Rostovtzeff, M. A History of the Ancient World (N. Y., 1926-1927, 


XXXIV 


Suggestions for Further Study 

Oxford University Press, American Branch, 2 vols, each $6.50). The 
work of an admirable scholar; superbly illustrated. 

Seignobos, Charles. History of Ancient Civilization, edited by A. H. 
Wilde (N. Y., 1906, Scribner, $1.48). 

* Thorndike, Lynn. A Short History of Civilization (N. Y., 1926, Crofts, 

$4.00). A scholarly, original work for college use and the general 
reader. 

Tozzer, A. M. Social Origins and Social Continuities (N. Y., 1925, Mac¬ 
millan, $2.50). A good brief book on primitive culture. 

Tylor, (Sir) E. B. Anthropology (N. Y., 1881, Appleton, $2.00). Still 
the best introduction to the entire field. 

Van Loon, H. W. The Story of Mankind (N. Y., 1920, Boni & Liveright,, 
$5.00). 

- Geography (N. Y., 1932, Simon & Schuster, $3.75). 

Wells, H. G. A Short History of the World (N. Y., 1922, Macmillan, $4.00). 

PREHISTORIC TIMES 

Cleland, H. F. Our Prehistoric Ancestors (N. Y., 1928, Coward-McCann, 
$5.00). Probably the most satisfactory work covering the entire 
prehistoric field. 

* Osborn, H. F. Men of the Old Stone Age (N. Y., 1915, Scribner, $5.00). 

An authoritative, interesting, and amply illustrated work. 

* Sollas, W. J. Ancient Hunters and Their Modern Representatives (3d ed., 

N. Y., 1924, Macmillan, $7.50). 

Tyler, J. M. The New Stone Age in Northern Europe (N. Y., 1921, Scrib¬ 
ner, $3.00). 

Wilder, H. H. Man’s Prehistoric Past (N. Y., 1923, Macmillan, $5.00). 

THE ANCIENT ORIENT 

Baikie, James. The Story of the Pharaohs (N. Y., 1908, Macmillan, $4.25). 
A popular work; well illustrated. 

- The Life of the Ancient East (N. Y., 1923, Macmillan, $4.00). A pop¬ 
ular survey of modem excavations and their results. 

* Breasted, J. H. A History of Egypt from the Earliest Times to the Persian 

Conquest (2d ed., N. Y., 1909, Scribner, $7.00). 

* Hall, H. R. The Ancient History of the Near East (6th ed., N. Y., 1926, 

Macmillan, $7.00). A standard work for advanced students. 
Hogarth, D. G. The Ancient East (N. Y., 1915, Holt, $1.00). “Home 
University Library.” 

* Jastrow, Morris, Jr. The Civilization of Babylonia and Assyria (Phila¬ 

delphia, 1915, Lippincott, $7.50). A finely illustrated volume by a 
great scholar. 

Maspero, (Sir) Gaston. Life in Ancient Egypt and Assyria (N. Y., 1892, 
Appleton, $2.50). Fascinating and authoritative. 



XXXV 


Suggestions for Further Study 

* Olmstead, A. T. History of Assyria (N. Y., 1923, Scribner, $7.50). 

* - History of Palestine and Syria to the Macedonian Conquest (N. Y., 

1931, Scribner, $7.50). 

* Rogers, R. W. A History of Ancient Persia (N. Y., 1929, Scribner, 

$7.50). 

GREECE AND ROME 

Abbott, Evelyn. Pericles and the Golden Age of Athens (N. Y., 1891, 
Putnam, $3.00). “Heroes of the Nations.” 

Baikie, James. The Sea-Kings of Crete (2d ed., N. Y., 1912, Macmillan, 
$4.25). A clear and vivid summary of Cretan archaeology. 

Bailey, Cyril (editor). The Legacy of Rome (N. Y., 1923, Oxford Univer¬ 
sity Press, American Branch, $2.50). Essays on Roman civilization by 
distinguished scholars. 

Blumner, Hugo. The Home Life of the Ancient Greeks , translated by Alice 
Zimmern (3d ed., N. Y., 1910, Funk and Wagnalls Co., $2.50). 

* Botsford, G. W. Hellenic History (N. Y., 1922, Macmillan, $4.00). 
Croiset, Maurice. Hellenic Civilization, translated by P. B. Thomas 

(N. Y., 1925, Knopf, $2.50). 

Davis, W. S.. A Day in Old Athens (Boston, 1914, Allyn & Bacon, 

$ 1 . 00 ). 

- A Day in Old Rome (Boston, 1925, Allyn & Bacon, $1.00) . 

* Dennie, John. Rome of To-day and Yesterday;- the Pagan City (5th ed., 

N. Y., 1909, Putnam, $3.50). 

Dickinson, G. L.. The Greek View of Life (14th ed., N. Y., 1922, Double¬ 
day, Doran & Co., $1.50). 

Fowler, W. W. Rome (N. Y., 1912, Holt, $1.00)., “Home University 
Library.” 

- The City-State of the Greeks and Romans (N.. Y., 1893, Macmillan, 

$2.00). The*only constitutional history of the classical peoples in¬ 
telligible to elementary students. 

- Social Life at Rome in the Age of Cicero (N. Y., 1909, Macmillan, $3.00). 

- Julius Caesar and the Foundation of the Roman Imperial System (2d ed., 

N. Y., 1897, Putnam, $3.00). “Heroes of the Nations.” 

* Frank, Tenney. A History of Rome (N. Y., 1923, Holt, $3.50). “Ameri¬ 

can Historical Series.” 

Gayley, C. M. The Classic Myths in English Literature and in Art (2d ed., 
Boston, 1911, Ginn, $1.92). 

Goodyear, W. H. Roman and Medieval Art (2d ed., N. Y., 1897, Mac¬ 
millan, $2.00). 

Gulick, C. B. The Life of the Ancient Greeks (N. Y., 1902, Appleton, 

$ 2 . 00 ). 

Hopkinson, (Miss) L. W. Greek Leaders (Boston, 1918, Houghton Mifflin 
Co., $1.75). Simple biographies of eleven makers of Greek history. 





XXXVI 


Suggestions for Further Study 

Jones, H. S. The Roman Empire, B.C. 29-A.D. 476 (N. Y., 1908, Putnam, 
$3.00). “Story of the Nations.” 

* Lanciani, Rudolfo. The Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome (Bos¬ 

ton, 1898, out of print). 

Livingstone, R. W. (editor). The Legacy of Greece (N. Y., 1921, Oxford 
University Press, American Branch, $2.50). Essays on Greek civiliza¬ 
tion by distinguished scholars. 

Mahaffy, J. P. What Have the Greeks Done for Modern Civilization? (N. Y., 
1909, Putnam, $2.50). 

* Mau, August. Pompeii: Its Life and Art , translated by F. W. Kelsey 

(N. Y., 1899, out of print). 

Morris, W. O’C. Hannibal and the Crisis of the Struggle between Carthage 
and Rome (N. Y., 1897, Putnam-, $3.00). “Heroes of the Nations.” 
Oman, Charles. Seven Roman Statesmen of the Later Republic (N. Y., 
1902, Longmans, Green & Co., $2.25). A biographical presentation 
of Roman history. 

Pickard-Cambridge, A. W. Demosthenes and the Last Days of Greek Free¬ 
dom (N. Y., 1914, Putnam, $3.00). “Heroes of the Nations.” 
Robinson, C. E. The Days of Alkibiades (N. Y., 1916, Longmans, Green 
& Co., $2.00). A picture of Greek life and culture in the Age of 
Pericles. 

Rogers, H. L., and Harley, T. R. The Life of Rome (N. Y., 1927, Oxford 
University Press, American Branch, $2.50). Illustrative passages from 
Latin literature. 

* Seymour, T. D. Life in the Homeric Age (new ed., N. Y., 1914, Mac¬ 

millan, $4.00). 

Showerman, Grant. Rome and the Romans (N. Y., 1931, Macmillan, 
$2.40). Well adapted for supplementary reading; finely illustrated. 

* Stobart, J. C. The Glory That Was Greece: a Survey of Hellenic Culture 

and Civilization (2d ed., Philadelphia, 1915, Lippincdtt, $7.50). 

* - The Grandeur That Was Rome: a Survey of Roman Culture and Civ¬ 

ilization (2d ed., Philadelphia, 1920, Lippincott, $7.50). 
Strachan-Davidson, J. S. Cicero and the Fall of the Roman Republic 
(N. Y., 1894, Putnam, $3.00). “Heroes of the Nations.” 

Tarbell, F. B. A History of Greek Art (2d ed., N. Y., 1905, Macmillan, 
$1.60). 

* Tarn, W. W. Hellenistic Civilization (2d ed., London, 1931, Arnold, 16s.). 

The best book on the subject. 

Tucker, T. G. Life in Ancient Athens (N. Y., 1906, Macmillan, $2.40). 
The most attractive treatment of the subject. 

- Life in the Roman World of Nero and St. Paul (N. Y., 1910, Macmillan, 

$3.50). 

* Weller, C. H. Athens and Its Monuments (N. Y., 1913, Macmillan, 

$4.00). 



XXXV11 


Suggestions for Further Study 

Wheeler, B. I. Alexander the Great and the Merging of East and West into 
Universal History (N. Y., 1900, Putnam, $3.00). “Heroes of the 
Nations.” 

* Zimmern, A. E. The Greek Commonwealth (4th ed., N. Y., 1924, Oxford 

University Press, American Branch, $3.80). 

MIDDLE AGES 

Adams, G. B. Civilization during the Middle Ages (2d ed., N. Y., 1914, 
Scribner, $2.75). 

Archer, T. A., and Kingsford, C. L. The Crusades (N. Y., 1894, Putnam, 
$3.00). “Story of the Nations.” 

Arnold, (Sir) Thomas, and Guillaume, A. (editors). The Legacy of Islam 
(N. Y., 1932, Oxford University Press, American Branch, $3.50). 
Ault, W. O. Europe in the Middle Ages (Boston, 1932, D. C. Heath and 
Co., $3.48). A very satisfactory textbook for colleges. 

Bateson, Mary. Medieval England (N. Y., 1903, Putnam, $3.00). Deals 
with social and economic life. “Story of the Nations.” 

* Bryce, James (Viscount). The Holy Roman Empire (new ed., N. Y., 

1904, Macmillan, $3.75). 

Cornish, F. W. Chivalry (London, 1911, Allen, 4s. 6d.). 

Cutts, E. L. Scenes and Characters of the Middle Ages (London, 1872, 
De La More Press, 10s. 6d.). An almost indispensable book. 

Davis, H. W. C. Medieval Europe (N. Y., 1911, Holt, $1.00). “Home 
University Library.” 

- Charlemagne, the Hero of Two Nations (N. Y., 1899, Putnam, $3.00). 

“Heroes of the Nations.” 

Davis, W. S. Life on a Medieval Barony (N. Y., 1923, Harper, $3.50). 
Diehl, C. H. History of the Byzantine Empire, translated by G. B. Ives 
(Princeton, N. J., 1925, Princeton University Press, $2.50). 

Emerton, Ephraim. An Introduction to the Study of the Middle Ages (Bos¬ 
ton, 1888, Ginn, $1.92). The most satisfactory short account. 

Foord, Edward. The Byzantine Empire (N. Y., 1911, out of print). 

* Gibbon, Edward. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Em¬ 

pire, edited by J. B. Bury (N. Y., 1914, Macmillan, 7 vols.). The best 
edition, illustrated and provided with maps, of this standard work. 

* Green, J. R. Short History of the English People, edited by Mrs. J. R. 

Green and Miss Kate Norgate (N. Y., 1893-1895, Harper, 4 vols.). A 
beautifully illustrated edition of this standard work. 

Guerber, H. A. Legends of the Middle Ages (N. Y., 1896, American Book 
Co., $2.00). 

Haskins, C. H. The Normans in European History (Boston, 1915, Hough¬ 
ton Mifflin Co., $3.00). 

* Hearnshaw, F. J. C. (editor). Medieval Contributions to Modern Civiliza¬ 

tion (London, 1921, Harrap, 10s. 6d.). 



xxxviii Suggestions for Further Study 

Lamb, Harold. The Crusades: Iron Men and Saints (N. Y., 1930, Dou¬ 
bleday, Doran & Co., $4.00). 

Lawrence. W. W. Medieval Story (N. Y., 1911, Columbia University 
Press, $2.00), Discusses the great literary productions of the Middle 
Ages. 

* Munro, D. C., and Sontag, Raymond. The Middle Ages, 395-1500 (rev. 

ed., N. Y., 1928, Century Co., $3.75). “Century Historical Series.” 

* Munro, D. C., and Sellery, G. C. Medieval Civilization (2d ed., N. Y., 

1907, Century Co., $2.50). Translated selections from standard works 
by French and German scholars. 

Salzman, L. F. English Life in the Middle Ages (N. Y., 1926, Oxford 
University Press, American Branch, $3.50). 

* Sellery, G. C., and Krey, A. C. The Founding of Western Civilization 

(N. Y., 1928, Harper, $5.00). “Harper’s Historical Series.” 

Tapp an, EvaM. When Knights Were Bold (Boston, 1912, Houghton Mifflin 
Co., $3.00). An economic and social study of feudal times; charm¬ 
ingly written. 

* Taylor, H. O. The Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages (3d ed., N. Y., 

1911, Macmillan, $1.75). 

* Thompson, J. W. The Middle Ages (N. Y., 1931, Knopf, 2 vols., $12.50). 

* Thorndike, Lynn. The History of Medieval Europe (Boston, 1917, 

Houghton Mifflin Co., $3.50). A college textbook. 

TRANSITION TO MODERN TIMES 

* Abbott, W. C. The Expansion of Europe, 1415-1789 (N. Y., 1918, Holt, 

2 vols., $8.00). “American Historical Series.” 

Bourne, E. G. Spain in America, 1450-1580 (N. Y., 1904, Harper, $2.25). 
“American Nation Series.” 

Cheyney, E. P. European Background of American History, 1300-1600 
(N. Y., 1904, Harper, $2.25). “American Nation Series.” 
Creighton, Mandell. The Age of Elizabeth (13th ed., N. Y., 1897, Scrib¬ 
ner, $1.75). “Epochs of Modern History.” 

Goodyear, W. H. Renaissance and Modern Art (N. Y., 1894, Macmillan, 

$ 2 . 00 ). 

Hudson, W. H. The Story of the Renaissance (N. Y., 1912, Holt, $2.50). 
Hulme, E. M. The Renaissance, the Protestant Revolution, and the Catholic 
Reformation in Continental Europe (rev. ed., N. Y., 1915, Century Co., 
$3.50). The best work on the subject by an American scholar. 

* Means, P. A. Ancient Civilizations of the Andes (N. Y., 1931, Scribner, 

$7.50). 

Seebohm, Frederic. The Era of the Protestant Revolution (N. Y., 1875, 
Scribner, $1.75). “Epochs of Modern History.” 

♦Smith, Preserved. The Age of the Reformation (N. Y., 1920, Holt, 
$5.00). “American Historical Series.” 


Suggestions for Further Study xxxix 

Thwaites, R. G. France in America, 1497-1763 (N. Y., 1905, Harper, 
$2.25). “American Nation Series.” 

Tyler, L. G. England in America, 1580-1682 (N. Y., 1904, Harper, $2.25). 
“American Nation Series.” 

THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES 

Andrews, C. M. The Colonial Period (N. Y., 1912, Holt, $1.00). “Home 
University Library.” 

Bright, J. F. Maria Theresa (N. Y., 1897, Macmillan, $1.40). “Foreign 
Statesmen.” 

- Joseph II (N. Y., 1897, Macmillan, $1.40). “Foreign Statesmen.” 

Firth, C. H. Oliver Cromwell and the Rule of the Puritans in England (new 
ed., N. Y., 1923, Putnam, $3.00). “Heroes of the Nations.” 

Hassall, Arthur. The Balance of Power, 1715-1789 (N. Y., 1896, Mac¬ 
millan, $2.90). “Periods of European History.” 

- Louis XIV and the Zenith of the French Monarchy (new ed., N. Y., 

1923, Putnam, $3.00). “Heroes of the Nations.” 

Howard, G. E. Preliminaries of the Revolution (N. Y., 1905, Harper, 
$2.25). “American Nation Series.” 

Lowell, E. J. The Eve of the French Revolution (new ed., Boston, 1893, 
Houghton Mifflin Co., $3.00). A satisfactory account of the Old 
Regime in France. 

* Macaulay, T. B. History of England, edited by C. H. Firth (N. Y., 1913- 
1915, Macmillan, 6 vols.). A beautifully illustrated edition. 

Redd away, W. F. Frederick the Great and the Rise of Prussia (N. Y., 1904, 
Putnam, $3.00). “Heroes of the Nations.” 

Wakeman, H. O. The Ascendancy of France, 1598-1715 (new ed., N. Y., 
1914, Macmillan, $2.90). “Periods of European History.” 












' 


. 









■ 

















Prologue 

TTistory is a record of what civilized men have thought or said 
I I or done in past times — whether a day , a year, a century , or 
thousands of years ago. Men live and have long lived in association 
and not in isolation , so that history deals with social groups such as 
states and nations. Just as biography describes the life of individ¬ 
uals, so history relates the rise, the growth , and sometimes the decline , 
of human societies. 

History is not concerned solely with rulers and warriors , forms 
of government , public affairs , and domestic and foreign wars. More 
and more, history becomes an account of the entire life of a people. 
The historian wants to learn about their houses , furniture , costumes, 
and food; what occupations they followed; what schools they sup¬ 
ported; what beliefs and superstitions they held; what amusements 
and festivals they enjoyed; and what inventions and discoveries they 
made. Human progress in industry , commerce , science , art , music , 
literature , law, morals , religion , and other aspects of civilization is 
what chiefly interests the historical student of to-day. 

History is a kind of artificial memory , preserving the experiences 
of the social group. Open a current newspaper or a magazine of pub¬ 
lic opinion. You cannot read very far without finding yourself deep 
in history. Why Great Britain is a monarchy and France is a 
republic; why the Japanese emperor rules by divine right; why the 
pope is called the Supreme Pontiff; why there are so few Protestants 
in Latin America; " why communism has triumphed in Soviet Russia; 
why some superstitious people believe in the influence of the stars on 
human destinies — history alone will answer these questions for you. 
One who is ignorant of history may be likened to a sufferer from 
aphasia (loss of memory ), whose former life is utterly a blank. On 
the other hand , a person acquainted with history may be said to live in 
all times and among all peoples. Nothing human is alien to his 
sympathy and understanding. The study of history has made him a 
citizen of the world. 


xli 




xlii Prologue 

All achievements of man have a sort of immortality. They endure 
after those responsible for them have passed away. The inventions 
and discoveries , by which man betters his lot, are handed down to his 
successors. There is thus an accumulation of knowledge, which en¬ 
ables each generation to go further than the previous one and without 
beginning everything anew. A social group moves forward as in a 
relay race , each generation taking over what its predecessors have ac¬ 
complished, and at the same time making its own contribution to the 
general fund. This past of mankind forms a social heritage, just as 
truly as our minds and bodies form a physical heritage from our an¬ 
cestors. It grows ever larger with the lapse of time , like a coral reef 
formed by the secretions of myriads of polyps , like a mighty stream 
fed by countless tributaries. The study of history acquaints us with 
our social heritage and shows us that we are truly heirs of all the ages. 

The old Roman door god , Janus , was always represented with a 
double face, because a door has two sides. History has a Janus-like 
aspect: if it looks backward it also looks forward. The historian 
nourishes the hope that what he can tell us of the past activities of man¬ 
kind may be used to throw light upon the problems of the present and 
even of the future. He therefore selects out of the countless facts 
available those which will help us to understand the life of to-day 
and fit us for the life of to-morrow. He turns away from the merely 
curious and picturesque features of the human story to set forth the 
constructive work of man throughout the centuries. The study of 
history thus contributes to social betterment and the forward movement 
of humanity. 

Finally , the study of history makes it clear that many industries 
and arts , many languages , customs, and religions, have been carried 
from one people or social group to another. We shall learn in this 
book how much of American civilization came from that of western 
Europe; how European civilization was based on that of Greece and 
Rome; and how that , in turn , was indebted to the civilization of the 
Near East , above all , of Egypt, Babylonia , and Palestine. The trail 
then becomes more and more obscure until we lose it in the mists of 
prehistoric times. Our survey of ancient , medieval , and early modern 
history will teach us how true it is that the mats of the present lie deep 
in the past. 


Part / 

FOUNDATIONS OF CIVILIZATION 
(Chapters I-II) 


Not so long ago even educated persons supposed that man had 
been living on the earth for only the few thousand years for 
which there are written records. We now have a very different 
idea of the human past. Just as the geologist shows how the 
solid crust of the earth was formed and molded in remote ages 
and how this crust contains the remains of plants and animals 
which once flourished and then disappeared, so the archaeologist 
(as he is called) uncovers in one part of the world after another 
the evidences of man’s activity during an immensely long period 
before the introduction of writing and the beginning of historic 
times. Thanks to the archaeologist, we can now go in search of 
our distant ancestors and learn a good deal about them, especially 
about their tools and weapons, their customs, beliefs, and arts. 
We are interested in them because we are so heavily indebted to 
them. What they accomplished in the way of better living they 
handed down to us, their descendants and their heirs. Our civ¬ 
ilization has its foundations in their discoveries and inventions. 
Knowledge of earliest man (Chapter I) is therefore essential 
to an understanding of history. 

The division of mankind into more or less distinct races and 
subraces occurred at a remote time and persists to-day. These 
racial groups have made very unequal progress. Some have re¬ 
mained savages or barbarians. Others have done much more in 
the way of reflective thought, practical invention, artistic ex¬ 
pression, and other aspects of human culture. We need to know 
what branches of mankind have been the leading actors on the 
historic stage, where and when they first appeared, and how they 
moved about from one part of the world to another. A survey 
of the world’s peoples (Chapter II) also forms a necessary pre¬ 
liminary to the study of history. 




CHAPTER I 


EARLIEST MAN 

The first pathetic totterings of culture were only attained through a tale 
of ages compared to which the whole name-and-date period is of negligible 
amplitude. Fire, cattle-herding, weaving, pottery, tillage, the metals, 
horse-taming, and the going down to the sea in ships of men with hearts 
of treble brass, were world-shaking discoveries and adventures. 

— Robert Briffault 


1. Civilization 

The word “civilization’’ comes from the Latin adjective 
civilis, pertaining to a citizen. The old Greeks and Romans, 
who were city-dwellers, considered their modes of what is 
life to be far superior to those of foreigners, and civilization? 
so they regarded themselves as alone being truly civilized, 
as alone having a high standard of citizenship. For us the 
word “civilization’’ has a much wider meaning. It now im¬ 
plies all that superiority in ways of living which separates 
men as members of states and nations from men who live 
only in rude hordes and tribes. 

Civilization, so considered, is a recent thing and, in com¬ 
parison with the savagery and barbarism which everywhere 
preceded it, almost a thing of yesterday. Civili- now old is 
zation really began not more than five or six civilization? 
thousand years ago and then only in the river valleys of 
Egypt and western Asia. The Egyptians and Babylonians 
by this time were cultivating the soil, laying out roads and 
canals, working mines, building cities, organizing stable gov¬ 
ernments, and keeping written records. All the rest of the 
world was inhabited by savage and barbarous peoples, whose 
descendants still dwell in the wilder and less accessible parts 
of every continent. 


3 


4 


Earliest Man 


The savage is a mere child of nature. He secures food 
from wild plants and animals; he knows nothing of metals, 
Savagery and but makes his tools and weapons of wood, bone, 
barbarism and s tone; he wears little or no clothing; and 
his home — if he has a home — is merely a cave, a rock 
shelter, or a rude bark hut. Savage peoples are still found in 
the interior of South America, Africa, Australia, and other 
regions of the world. Barbarism forms a transitional stage 



Deposits in a Swiss Cave 

The cave of Drachenloch, near Ragatz, Switzerland, contains four layers of relic¬ 
bearing deposits. The layers are numbered II, III, IV, and V in the drawing. At A 
were hearths with charcoal; at B an assemblage of flat stones; and at C an altar on 
which the skulls of cave bears were piled. Stone and bone implements found in the cave 
testify to its occupancy by man at a remote epoch, tens of thousands of years ago. 


between savagery and civilization. The barbarian has gained 
some control of nature. He has learned to sow and reap 
the fruits of the earth — instead of depending entirely upon 
hunting and fishing for a food supply —to domesticate 
animals, and ordinarily to use implements of metal. Bar¬ 
barous peoples at the present time include certain American 
Indians, some of the Pacific Islanders, and most of the 
African Negroes. 

The facts collected by modern science make it certain that 












Civilization 


5 


man was first a savage and then a barbarian before he 
reached any degree of civilization. We know this, not on 
the evidence of written records — earliest man Human 
made neither inscriptions nor books — but from P r °g ress 
the things which he left behind him in many parts of the 



Europe during the Glacial Period 

The dotted areas indicate parts of the ancient mainland now covered by the sea, 
but elevated above sea level during the earlier part of the Glacial Period. The black 
line shows the southern limit of the Scandinavian ice field at the time of its greatest 
extension. 


world, particularly in Europe and the Mediterranean region. 
These include a few of his own bones, many bones of ani¬ 
mals killed by him, and a great variety of tools, weapons, 
and other objects. Systematic study of such relics and re¬ 
mains affords some idea of human progress before the dawn 
of civilization. 















6 


Earliest Man 


2. The Old Stone Age 

The first traces of man are found in the Old Stone, or 
Palaeolithic, Age. This name refers to the chipped flints or 
Europe in other hard stones which were then commonly used 
Palaeolithic as tools and weapons. While almost every region 
of the world has had a Palaeolithic Age, we know 
most about it in Europe. Man was living there at a remote 
time. He was living there when gigantic ice fields and glaciers 
covered a large part of the Continent; when land-bridges 
connected what are now the British Isles with the mainland, 
Spain and Italy with Africa, and the Balkan peninsula with 
Asia Minor; and when such animals as the woolly mam¬ 
moth, woolly rhinoceros, saber-tooth tiger, cave bear, bison, 
reindeer, and wild steppe horse ranged through the forests 
and over the plains. The duration of the Palaeolithic Age 
in Europe must therefore be reckoned by tens of thousands 
of years. Cautious students do not limit themselves to 
dates, however, being content with the realization that the 
Palaeolithic Age was by far the longest stretch of man’s 
prehistory. 

Man’s first tools and weapons were those that lay ready 
to his hand. A branch from a tree served as a spear; a thick 
implements stick i n his strong arms became a club; while 
stones picked up at haphazard were thrown as 
missiles or used as pounders to crack nuts and crush big 
marrow bones. Eventually, man discovered that a shaped 
implement was far more serviceable than an unshaped one, 
and so he began chipping flints into rude hatchets, knives, 
spearheads, borers, and the like. No slight skill is required 
to chip a flint along one face or both faces until it takes a 
symmetrical form. Practice makes perfect, however, and 
the Palaeolithic Age for the most part shows steady im¬ 
provement in shaping not only stone implements but also 
those of bone, mammoth, ivory, and reindeer horn. Many 
different kinds of implements, adapted to special uses, were 
gradually produced. In addition to those just mentioned, 


7 


The Old Stone Age 


we find awls, wedges, saws, drills, chisels, barbed harpoons, 
and even so neat a device as a spear-thrower. Bone and 
wooden handles also came into use, thus adding immensely 
to the effectiveness of tools and weapons. 



Prehistoric Stone Implements 


1. Eolith (“dawn stone”), a small rough stone, one part shaped as if to be held in the 
hand, and the other part edged or pointed for cutting. Some eoliths may be natural pro¬ 
ductions, but others seem to be of human workmanship. 

2. Palaeolithic “fist hatchet,” so-called because it was grasped in the hand by the narrow 
part and was used without a handle. 

3. Neolithic ax head, finely chipped and polished. 


Palaeolithic man was a fire-user before he was a fire- 
maker. Embers from fires started by lightning or by other 
natural agencies were kept alive and carried from Firg making 
place to place long before man learned to kindle ire ma ms 
a blaze at will. He may have done so by rubbing two pieces 
of wood together, the friction method most common among 
savages to-day. More probably, he struck a piece of iron 
pyrites with a flint, allowing the sparks to fall into a bed of 
dry grass or leaves. Flint, out of which the earliest tools 
were made, thus played a part in taming the great elemental 
force of fire. The discovery of fire made it possible for man 
to cook food instead of eating it raw, to smoke meats and 
thus preserve them indefinitely, to protect himself at night 
against animal enemies, and to make his cave home comfort- 


8 


Earliest Man 


able. Later, the use of fire enabled him to bake clay into 
pottery and to smelt metals, but these inventions were not 
made in Palaeolithic times. 

The men of this age doubtless passed much of their time 
in the open, following the game from place to place, and, 
when night came on, camping out under the 
Habitations stars> They may have built huts of bark and 

boughs, and no doubt they learned how to construct under¬ 
ground habitations by burrowing and digging. More com¬ 
monly they took shelter under rock ledges and in caves, 



A Mammoth 


An engraving on a piece of ivory tusk. Found in the rock shelter of La Madeleine, 
France. Represents a woolly mammoth charging. Comparison with the remains of mam¬ 
moths completely preserved in the frozen soil of Siberia shows that the Palaeolithic artist 
accurately delineated the animal’s protuberant forehead, hairy covering, and huge curved 
tusks. 

provided the bears, lions, and hyenas already in possession 
could be ousted. Limestone caverns, often very deep and 
roomy, are numerous in western Europe, where they seem 
to have been occupied by successive generations for many 
centuries. Huge accumulations of ashes and charcoal, stone 
implements, bones of animals, and sometimes those of man 
himself cover the floor of a Palaeolithic cave to a depth of 
many feet. These objects are often found sealed up in 
stalagmite deposits formed by lime-burdened water dropping 
from the roof. What was man’s home has thus become a 
museum, only awaiting investigation by a trained student 
to reveal its story of the past. 



9 


The Old Stone Age 

Palaeolithic man at the outset must have lived on what 
nature supplied in the way of wild berries, nuts, roots, herbs, 
honey, the eggs of wild fowl, shellfish, and grubs, 
and on the small animals which could be killed F °° d supply 
by throwing stones and sticks. As his implements improved 
and his skill increased, he became a fisher, a trapper, and a 
hunter of big game. He hunted the woolly mammoth, 
European bison, reindeer, and especially the steppe horse, 
which at one time roamed in great herds over western 
Europe. There is a place in France, near Lyons, contain¬ 
ing the bones of at least one hundred thousand horses, which 
had been slaughtered by driving them over a precipice in 
the neighborhood. Another place (in Czechoslovakia) seems 
to have been a hunter’s paradise, for there have been found 
the bones and tusks of more than a thousand mammoths, be¬ 
sides the remains of many cave bears and other carnivores. 
The pelts of the slain animals were made into covers and 
clothing, as we know from the discovery of flint skin scrapers 
and bone needles. 

Some of these cave dwellers, especially in southern France 
and northern Spain, were artists of no mean ability. They 
made designs on bone implements, modeled fig- 
ures in clay, carved statuettes from stone and 
ivory, and covered the walls of their caves with a variety of 
engravings and paintings, the oldest in the world. How 
old these are may be judged from the thick deposits which 
often overlie them and from the fact that many animals 
represented have become extinct or only survive in distant 
regions. A French cave contains more than eighty pictures 
of bison, mammoths, horses, reindeer, and one woolly rhinoc¬ 
eros. The artist in most cases could have had no living 
models, but worked from memory by the dim light of a 
torch or of a moss wick fed with melting grease. The best 
pictures of animals are remarkably lifelike, far surpassing 
the efforts of modern savages. The Spanish caves contain 
many pictures of men and women, sometimes shown dancing 
or fighting, but more often grouped with animals in hunting 


10 


Earliest Man 


scenes. The human figure, however, is never well rendered; 
when the artist tried to engrave or paint it he came to 
grief; he could draw only animals. 

“Later he pictured an aurochs — later he pictured a bear — 

Pictured the saber-toothed tiger dragging a man to his lair — 

Pictured the mountainous mammoth, hairy, abhorrent, alone — 

Out of the love that he bore them, scriving them clearly on bone.” 


Social life 


The cave dwellers apparently had some religious ideas. 
Bodies buried in caves were sometimes surrounded by ofifer- 
Reiigion i n g s f° oc ^ implements, and ornaments, which 
must have been intended for the use of the de¬ 
ceased in another life. Such care for the dead indicates a be¬ 
lief in the soul and in its survival after death. 

There are other aspects of the Palaeolithic Age about 
which little or nothing can be learned with certainty. We 
may assume, from what is known of present- 
day savages, that even at this remote period 
people had begun to cooperate in hunting and for defense 

against animal and 
i pfgm human foes. Each 
group must have been 
small — a few hun¬ 
dred individuals at 
the most — for popu- 
lation was scanty. 
Doubtless there was 
government of some 
sort, by the chiefs or 
the elders, and doubt¬ 
less there was justice 
of some sort, restrain¬ 
ing human passions 
and imposing a meas¬ 
ure of law and order. 
Probably the family had also appeared, and men and women 
were beginning to live together more or less permanently 




Head of a Girl 

Musle St. Germain, Paris 

A small head of a young girl carved from mammoth 
ivory. Found at Brassempouy, France, in cave deposits 
belonging to the Old Stone Age. The hair is arranged 
somewhat after the early Egyptian fashion. Of the fea¬ 
tures the mouth alone is wanting. 







Bison 


Wild Boar 


Woolly Rhinoceros 


Wolf 


Wild Horse Reindeer 

ART OF THE CAVE MAN 

These remarkable pictures, with the exception of the picture of a wild boar, are found 
on the walls of a cave known as Font-de-Gaume, department of the Dordogne, south¬ 
western France. The representation of a wild boar comes from the Altamira cave in 
northern Spain. Of the animals represented, the woolly rhinoceros is extinct, the Euro¬ 
pean bison (related to the American “buffalo”) is almost extinct, and the wild horse 
survives only on the plains of Mongolia. 











Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain in the south of England, is the most impressive antiquity in the British Isles. The monument seems to date from 
the close of the Neolithic Age or from the beginning of the Bronze Age. It probably served as a tomb, or group of tombs, for prehistoric chieftains. As 
viewed today, it consists of an earthwork and the remains of two circles of upright stones inclosing two ellipses, both open at one end. Many of the 
stones have fallen down or been carried away for building purposes. Stonehenge is now preserved as a national monument. 















11 


The New Stone Age 

under some form of marriage. The social life of man, as 
well as his religion, art, and material culture, is very ancient. 

The Palaeolithic Age began in Europe many thousands of 
years ago, when geographical and climatic conditions were 
quite unlike what they are now; when vast First steps 
forests, dense jungles, swamps, and steppes cov- inhuman 
ered the land; and when wild animals, in va- progress 
riety and number more than can be conceived, lurked on 
every side. Here and there in this strange, terrible world 
lived a few thousand human beings, not yet lords of crea¬ 
tion, but culturally so low that they have left to us only 
their rudely chipped stone implements. Alone, unaided, 
they began to invent, to make discoveries, and so to take 
the first steps in human progress. The Palaeolithic Age 
ended with men in possession of the fundamental elements, 
the raw materials, of civilization. They made many tools 
and weapons not only of stone but also of wood and bone; 
occupied and perhaps built shelters; controlled fire; wore 
clothing; waged successful war on the beasts about them; 
and found time for ceremonies of magic and religion, for re¬ 
markable achievements in the fine arts, and for social life. 
They had accomplished much, even though they remained 
savages unable to tame animals or till the soil. These and 
other cultural acquisitions were reserved for the Neolithic 
Age. 


3. The New Stone Age 

The Neolithic, or New Stone Age, when men began to 
grind and polish some of their stone implements after chip¬ 
ping them, began in Europe probably not more Europe in 
than seven or eight thousand years ago. The Neolithic 
map of Europe then had nearly the same out- times 
lines as to-day. The Scandinavian peninsula was freed from 
the great mass of ice in which it had lain buried. Great 
Britain and Ireland were now separated from the Conti¬ 
nent by the shallow waters of the North Sea, English Chan- 


12 


Earliest Man 


nel, and Irish Sea. Owing to the sinking of the Mediterra¬ 
nean area, Spain and Italy were no longer joined to North 
Africa by land-bridges. The plants which flourished in 
colder Palaeolithic times gave place to those characteristic 
of a temperate climate, and forests began to cover what 
had formerly been treeless steppes. The woolly rhinoceros, 
woolly mammoth, and cave bear became extinct; the musk 
sheep and reindeer retreated to Arctic latitudes, while the 
lion, hyena, and other carnivores found their way into 
tropical regions. Only a few animals associated with Palaeo- 



A Swiss Lake Dwelling (Reconstruction) 


lithic times survived into the Neolithic era; these included 
the elk, wild boar, and European bison. 

We do not yet know what became of the Palaeolithic 

men. They may have become extinct; they may have 

N eolithic moved toward the northeast into Siberia and 

peoples Arctic America; or they may have remained in 

their old homes and intermingled with the invading Neo¬ 
lithic peoples. These newcomers apparently came from 
western Asia and northern Africa and gradually spread over 
all Europe. The Neolithic peoples belonged to the Cau- 






The New Stone Age 13 

casian or white race. Their blood flows in the veins of 
modern Europeans, who are chiefly their descendants. 

Our knowledge of the Neolithic Age comes, not from 
deep-lying or sealed-up deposits, such as those in Palaeo¬ 
lithic caves, but from remains found on or near Neolithic 
the surface of the soil or in rubbish heaps and remains 
burial grounds. In Denmark and along the Baltic coast 
stretch huge mounds of bones and shells, marking the sites 
of former camping places, 
refuse heaps, are sometimes 
a thousand feet long, two 
to three hundred feet wide, 
and ten feet high; covered 
with vegetation they look 
like natural mounds. Im¬ 
plements of stone, bone, 
and wood, together with 
pieces of pottery and other 
things of human workman¬ 
ship, are found in the 
“kitchen middens.” Swit¬ 
zerland affords numerous 
remains of lake dwellers, 
who, for protection against 
their enemies, lived over 
the water in huts resting on sharpened piles driven into the 
bottom of the lake. The huts have disappeared, but the 
mud about the piles contains thousands of objects, including 
animal bones, seeds of various plants and fruits, implements, 
shreds of coarse cloth, fragments of pottery, household 
utensils, and bits of furniture. Neolithic men also erected 
many stone monuments, either single pillars or groups of 
pillars inclosing chambers and circles. The former often 
marked a grave; the latter usually served as sepulchers for 
the dead. They are rude memorials of far-off times and 
vanished peoples . 1 

i See the plate facing page 11. 


These “kitchen middens,” or 



A Neolithic Tomb 


Near Carnac in Brittany. A good example of 
the Neolithic stone monuments so numerous in 
France. The builders used the stones that were 
most accessible, splitting them when too large 
by means of wooden wedges or in some other 
manner. The stones were then rolled over logs 
or pushed down earthen ramps to the desired 
site and were erected without the use of 
machinery. 


14 


Earliest Man 


The Neolithic Age covered only a brief space of time, as 
compared with its predecessor, but it was an age of con- 
Further steps spicuous advance. Neolithic implements, though 
inhuman still of stone, bone, and wood, were often of 
progress exceeding beauty and finish, particularly arrow¬ 
heads (testifying to the invention of the bow), and stone 
axes with a sharp cutting edge. The men of the ‘‘kitchen 
middens” began to make pottery, chiefly for cooking vessels, 
and they domesticated the dog. The lake dwellers possessed 
cattle, goats, sheep, and swine, as well as dogs; plaited 
baskets, spun and wove textiles, prepared leather, built 
boats, used wheeled carts, and, most important of all, culti¬ 
vated some of the cereals, including wheat, barley, and millet. 
The new sources of food available enabled Neolithic peoples 
to abandon the migratory life of hunters and fishers and to 
become settled farmers. Their community life must have 
been well organized, for the erection of lake dwellings and 
stone monuments required the cooperation of many persons. 
In short, Neolithic peoples were not savages; they had 
passed from savagery to barbarism. 

The Neolithic Age was not confined to Europe. It also 
Transition to existed in western Asia, in Egypt, in North 
the use of Africa, and on the islands of Cyprus and Crete. 

The entire basin of the Mediterranean formed a 
Neolithic center. Here the transition to the use of metals 
first occurred. 


4. The Age of Metals 

Civilization rests on the metals, which first provided man 
with tools worthy of his wonderful hands and yet more 
The metals wonderful brain. Stone is not pliable; it is very 
apt to split in use; and it is ground and polished 
only with great difficulty. There came a time when substi¬ 
tutes were sought for it, and for wood and bone as well, 
in the metals. Gold and silver early attracted man’s atten¬ 
tion and provided him with ornaments. They were less 


The Age of Metals 15 

“precious,” however, than the harder tin, copper, bronze 
(a fusion of these two), and iron. 

How metallurgy arose we can only guess. Either by acci¬ 
dent or by experimentation it was learned that while some 
stones cracked in a fire and some were scarcely 
affected by it, still others, subjected to intense Metallurgy 
heat, became soft and malleable. Then followed the furnace, 
bellows, anvil, sledge, tongs, and all the appliances and 
processes of the smith’s craft. With its development the 
metals became indispensable to man, so that in a sense the 
Age of Metals continues still and must continue to the end 
of time. 

The Egyptians seem to have been the first people to smelt 
metals. Some of the most ancient graves in Egypt, dating 
from about 4000 B.c., contain needles and chisels Copper 
made by smelting the crude copper ore found in ° pper 
the Nile Valley. The Egyptians at a very early period began 
to work the copper mines on the peninsula of Sinai. The 
Babylonians may have obtained copper from the same 
region. Another source of copper was the island of Cyprus, 
which is rich in that metal. Copper implements gradually 
spread into Europe, and with their use the Neolithic Age 
was succeeded by the Age of Metals. 

Copper implements, being soft, did not keep an edge. 
Ancient smiths discovered that the addition of a small 
quantity of tin (about one-tenth) to the copper Bronze 
produced the much harder and tougher alloy 
called bronze, as superior to copper as steel is to iron. Where 
this simple but most important discovery took place, we 
cannot say. Bronze made its appearance in Egypt and 
Babylonia between 4000 and 3000 B.c. and somewhat later 
in Cyprus, Crete, Asia Minor, and the coasts of Greece. 
Traders afterward carried the new metal throughout the 
length and breadth of Europe. 

The great durability and hardness of iron must have been 
soon noticed by metal workers, but, as compared with copper 
and tin, it was difficult both to mine and to smelt. Hence 


16 


Earliest Man 


the introduction of iron occurred at quite a late period. 
The Egyptians seem to have made little use of iron before 
iron 1500 B.c. They called it the “metal of heaven/’ 

as if they obtained it from meteorites. In the 
first five books of the Bible iron is mentioned only thirteen 
times, though copper and bronze are referred to forty-four 
times. In the Homeric poems of the ancient Greeks we find 
iron considered so valuable that a lump of it forms a prize in 
an athletic contest. Western and northern Europe became 
acquainted with iron only in the last thousand years before 
Christ. 

The superior qualities of iron have secured for it the chief 
place among the metals. Nevertheless, peoples without any 
Diffusion of knowledge of iron are met with in remote parts of 
iron the world. Some Australian tribes, for instance, 

continue to make stone implements as rude as those of 
Palaeolithic man in Europe. The South Sea Islands, owing 
to their peculiar formation, produce no metals. Their in¬ 
habitants, when discovered a few centuries ago, were still 
in the Stone Age, and so ignorant of metal that they planted 
the first iron nails obtained from Europeans, in the hope of 
raising a new crop. Among the Malays and the African 
Negroes the knowledge and use of iron also followed im¬ 
mediately upon the Stone Age. The American Indians, 
before the discovery of the New World, knew nothing of 
iron. Most of them used stone implements like those of 
Neolithic Europe, together with unsmelted copper, gold, 
and silver. In Mexico and Peru, however, smelted copper 
and bronze were also known. India, Indo-China, and China 
afford evidence of the regular succession in those regions of 
the use of copper, bronze, and iron. 

The introduction of the metals brought about a revolution, 
the greatest that the world has seen or that it will ever see. 
Significance of The history of civilization has been declared 
the metals to b e t h e history of the metals in the hands of 
man. No wonder that around these treasures of earth, 
gathered from the glittering sands or smelted from the deep 


> 
















































































































































































18 


Earliest Man 


rock, there grew up many a legend which told of wondrous 
smiths such as the Greek Hephaestus (Vulcan), whose forge 
was in the smoking crater of Mount JEtna, or the Hebrew 
Tubal-Cain, who lived in the seventh generation after Adam 
and was “a master in all copper and iron work” ( Genesis , iv, 
22 ). 


5. Dawn of Civilization 

Civilization, resting on the metals, thus arose only a few 
thousand years ago in certain isolated areas. Those in the 
Centers of Old World were principally Egypt, Babylonia 
early civiiiza- (the Tigris-Euphrates Valley), northern India, 
and central China. Those in the New World — 
at a much later date — were Mexico, Central America, and 
Peru. The areas mentioned have certain features in com¬ 
mon. They are, or were, fertile regions, where food could 
be easily produced, wealth multiplied, and large popula¬ 
tions supported by farming and trade. They are, or were, 
regions with a favorable climate, where excessive cold did 
not stunt body and mind or excessive heat sap human 
energies. Some of them were also well-protected regions, 
surrounded by mountains or deserts, so that access to them 
by ruder peoples was not easy. Their inhabitants, accord¬ 
ingly, enjoyed opportunities not found elsewhere to develop 
the arts of civilized life. 

Civilization has spread from its original centers until it 
now covers the greater part of the habitable globe. Un- 
Spread of civilized peoples, who once occupied all the 
early civiiiza- world, have been exterminated or else have been 
pushed off to remote regions, such as the interior 
of Australia, equatorial Africa, northern Siberia, tropical 
South America, and the islands of the Pacific. Even those 
who still survive are now coming rapidly under civilized 
influences. History, from the widest point of view, thus 
forms a record of the displacement of savagery and barbar¬ 
ism by civilization. 


Dawn of Civilization 


19 


savagery- 
barbarism 
Glacial Period 


For Explanation 

Palaeolithic New Stone Age 

Neolithic kitchen middens 

Old Stone Age lake dwellings 


For Discussion 


1. Why has history been called the “biography of society"? 

2. What is meant by calling history the “autobiography of the human 
race”? 

3. Distinguish between the three stages of savagery, barbarism, and 
civilization, and give instances of existing peoples in each stage. 

4. What is meant by calling man the “tool-making animal”? 

5. Why should the discovery and use of fire be regarded as more sig¬ 
nificant than the discovery and use of steam? 

6. Why has the invention of the bow-and-arrow been of greater im¬ 
portance than the invention of gunpowder? 

7. How did the domestication of animals affect the occupations and 
interests of man? 

8. How does the presence of few tamable animals in the New World help 
to account for its tardier development as compared with the Old 
World? 

9. Why were copper and bronze in use long before iron became a common 
metal? 

10. Mention several ways in which metals may have been discovered and 
made useful to primitive man. 

11. “The history of man is largely a history of great inventions.” Com¬ 
ment on this statement. 

12. “True civilization begins, as the very name suggests, with the founda¬ 
tion of cities.” Comment on this statement. 


For Further Study 


1. List these words and find definitions for them: civilization, culture, 
society, nation, state, government, institution, politics, economics, history, 
and prehistory. 

2. Trace the farthest descent of the ice sheet in Europe during the Glacial 
Period (map, page 5). 

3. Distinguish the original centers of civilization in the Old World from 
the derivative centers (map, page 17). 

4. Read Rudyard Kipling’s story, “The Knife and the Naked Chalk” 
(in Puck of Pook’s Hill ) and prepare an oral report on the life and con¬ 
ditions described by the author. 


20 Earliest Man 

5. Write a story called “A Prehistoric Edison,” dealing with some in¬ 
ventions and discoveries that he might have made. 

6. Make a list, of fifteen important animals (both mammals and birds) 
domesticated by man. In what ways are these animals used? 

7. Make a similar list of ten domesticated plants. Where did these 
plants originate? 



A Neolithic Statue 

A sandstone pillar, carved only 
in part, at Saint-Sernin in France. 
It shows the eyes as holes, a wide 
necklace, and four horizontal lines 
on each side of the face, possibly 
tattoo-markings. The mouth is 
not indicated. The figure prob¬ 
ably represents a goddess. 







CHAPTER II 


THE WORLD’S PEOPLES 

True morality should be the same for all the inhabitants of the globe. 
The savage man and the civilized; the white man, the red man, the black 
man; Indian and European, Chinaman and Frenchman, Negro and Lapp 
have the same nature. The differences between them are only modifica¬ 
tions of the common nature produced by climate, government, education, 
opinion, and the various causes which operate on them. 

— Baron d’Holbach 


6. Races of Man 

The human population of the world falls into more or less 
distinct groups having certain inherited traits of both body 
and mind. Such a group is a “race/’ which origin of 
corresponds to “breed’’ in the case of the lower races 
animals. Were these groups, these races, originally one or 
many? Have they sprung from a single stock or from several 
stocks? The answer now given by scientists is that the 
grand divisions of humanity are really blood relations, with 
a common, though remote, ancestry. The special character¬ 
istics of each race seem to represent what differences of 
climate, soil, diet, and other physical conditions have done 
to make men unlike in various parts of the world. 

The development of races doubtless occurred very early, 
for they appear at the beginning of historic times. As far as 
we can tell, they have changed little or not at f 
all since then. Five or six thousand years ago 
they were as strongly marked as now, judging from pictures 
on old monuments, the examination of ancient skulls, and 
the earliest written descriptions that have come down to us. 

Racial distinctions are based on physical traits, especially 
skin color (black-brown, yellow-reddish, white), head form 

21 


22 


The World’s Peoples 

(narrow, broad, medium), and texture of the hair (woolly, 
straight, wavy, or curly). Negroes, for example, have long, 
Classification narrow heads and crisp, woolly hair, while Chi- 
of races nese anc [ Japanese, in addition to yellow skins, 
have short, broad heads and straight, lank hair. Less im¬ 
portant racial distinctions are found in the shape of the nose 
as thin and prominent or large and flat, in the orbit of the 
eyes as horizontal or oblique (compare the “almond’’ eyes 
of Orientals), and in the extent to which the upper and lower 
jaws project beyond the line of the face. By comparing 
these and other physical traits it becomes possible to recog¬ 
nize three primary races, which together account for at least 
nine-tenths of all the tribes and nations of the world and for 
more than nine-tenths of the world’s population. The three 
races are generally called Negroid, Mongoloid, and Cauca¬ 
sian, though the color terms, black, yellow, and white, 
are also used as convenient, though not very accurate, labels 
for them. 

When history opens, each of the races occupied quite dis¬ 
tinct geographical areas. The Negroid race held most of 
Distribution Africa south of the Sahara, southern India, and 
of races Australia and the adjoining islands. The Mon¬ 
goloid race held the north, east, and center of Asia, whence 
it spread over the Malay Archipelago, the islands of the 
Pacific, and the New World. The Caucasian race was limited 
to Europe, northern Africa, and southwestern Asia. The 
last four centuries have seen a wonderful expansion of 
Caucasian peoples, who now form the bulk of the inhabit¬ 
ants of North America, South America, Australia, New 
Zealand, and part of southern Africa. 

Excepting the American and other Negroes that have for 
centuries been associated with whites, the Negroid race is 
Caucasian still in the savage or in the barbarian stage of cul- 
race ture. The same holds true of the Mongoloid 

race, with the important exceptions of the Chinese, Indo- 
Chinese, and Japanese. Civilization has been developed and 
history has been made chiefly by peoples of the Caucasian race. 


Races of Man 


23 




















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































o 

•<o 

to 

•<s* 


O 

*c«* 

to 


V. 

s-S* 

s§ 

*0 

8~ 
•S Q 

o.’-o 
Q £ 

^ ct 

a* 


O O 

TJ* 


% 


Distribution of the White Race in Antiquity, about 1000-500 b.c. 













































Human Migrations 25 

7. Human Migrations 

If man is essentially one, he cannot have had more than 
one place of origin. He must have had a single cradle-land 
from which he subsequently made his slow way The human 
over the globe. We may never discover its exact cradie-iand 
whereabouts, though almost certainly it was in the Old 
World, and quite probably in Asia. The vast size, widely 
varying life conditions, and central position of Asia all sug¬ 
gest that this continent was the birthplace of humanity. 
Man’s movements from the common Asiatic home doubt¬ 
less began even before the Glacial Period and did not end 
until after that period had entirely passed away. 

Man’s tendency to roam was the result of his constant 
quest for food, his desire for a more genial climate, his love 
of conquest and plunder, and sometimes the pres- Dispersal of 
sure exerted by foes about him. Mere restless- mankind 
ness and longing for a change of scene must also have driven 
him forward, as is still the case with the vagabond Gypsies 
and the wandering tribes of the Asiatic steppes and the 
Sahara. Such migratory movements have been possible 
because of man’s ability to adapt himself to varied surround¬ 
ings. No region is too cold or too hot or too low or too high 
for him, provided it offers the necessary subsistence. He 
inhabits almost the whole earth, in spite of the extremes 
of temperature presented by the frigid and the torrid zones. 
He is found in regions below sea level (Caspian basin), 
as well as on table-lands elevated as much as fifteen thousand 
feet above the sea (Tibet). Man’s powers of locomotion 
are equally surprising, for his steady and tireless gait will 
in the end leave every animal competitor behind. In short, 
man was well fitted to obey the Scriptural commandment: 
“Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and sub¬ 
due it.” 

Man has been migrating for thousands of years. Human 
remains unearthed at Palaeolithic and Neolithic sites in 
Europe belong to several physical types, testifying to the 


26 


The World’s Peoples 

fact that even at this distant epoch Europe was occupied 
by more than one people. Other parts of the world have also 
Prehistoric witnessed extensive migratory movements. The 
migrations Polynesians started out from the coast of south¬ 
eastern Asia and passed from one Pacific island to another 
over an uncharted ocean. Our Indians, whose ancestors 
probably entered America from Asia, crossing over at Bering 
Strait, spread eastward and southward until they reached 
the extremity of South America. These and other migrations 
were made by early man while at a low cultural level, before 
he possessed metal tools and weapons to overcome the ob¬ 
stacles offered by seas, deserts, rivers, and mountain ranges, 
as well as by the wild beasts that disputed his advance. 

History tells of repeated invasions, conquests, and dis¬ 
placements of one people by another. We know that in 
Historic Europe the inroads of Germans and Slavs were 
migrations followed by those of Huns, Arabs, Mongols, and 
Turks, who came from Asia during the Middle Ages. Still 
another example of extensive migration is offered by the 
Northmen, or Vikings, who dotted Iceland and southern 
Greenland with their settlements. The colonization of Amer¬ 
ica by Europeans, seeking overseas the wealth, adventure, 
and freedom which they could not find at home, is the most 
significant migratory movement in history. 

Migrations, long continued and extending over great areas, 
have necessarily led to contacts between races and peoples 
Mixture of an d sometimes to racial fusion or mixture, 
races and Europe has for hundreds of years been a meeting 
peoples place of peoples, with the result that the popula¬ 
tion of Italy, Spain, France, England, and other countries 
exhibits diverse strains. The United States furnishes an¬ 
other example. Here a population mostly English in origin 
has received within the past century many millions of emi¬ 
grants from Continental Europe, so that the American type 
promises to be more or less unlike what it was during the 
Colonial era. Latin America, without a color line or color 
problem, where neither custom nor law raises any barriers 


27 


Languages of Man 

to the free intermingling of races, shows us all sorts of hybrid 
stocks, formed by the mixture of Indians, Africans, and 
Europeans. 


8. Languages of Man 

The contact of races and peoples, whether or not producing 
mixture between them, often results in the substitution of one 
language for another. The Negroes in the United R aC e and 
States now speak English, while those in Latin lan guage 
America speak either Spanish or Portuguese. Arabic is now 
the speech of Palestine, Syria, Egypt, and North Africa, 
where in former times there were many different languages. 
Latin, carried by the Romans, displaced the earlier languages 
of Italy, Spain, and Gaul. Most of the Asiatic peoples 
who settled in Europe during the Middle Ages have ex¬ 
changed their native tongues for those of Europeans. In 
short, men may adopt a foreign language and pass it on to 
their children as they may adopt a foreign religion or custom. 
Race and language are therefore not convertible terms. 

The languages spoken by Caucasians belong, with some 
exceptions, to one or other of three families. Least im¬ 
portant, historically, is the Hamitic family, Hamitic 
named after Ham, a son of Noah ( Genesis , x, 1, 6). lan s ua g es 
Hamitic languages are still found in northern and eastern 
Africa, some of them among peoples who have more or less 
mixed with Negroes. Ancient Egyptian was a Hamitic 
language. 

The second family is that of the Semitic languages, so 
called from Shem, another son of Noah ( Genesis , x, 1, 22). 
Semitic-speaking peoples in antiquity included Semitic 
Babylonians, Assyrians, Hebrews, Phoenicians, Swages 
and Arabs. To these must be added the Abyssinians of 
eastern Africa. The Semites, as the map shows, originally 
formed a compact group, but Arabs are now everywhere in 
northern Africa, while Hebrews (Jews) have spread all over 
the world. 


28 


The World’s Peoples 

The third family is that of the Indo-European languages. 
This name indicates that they are found in both India and 
indo- Europe. The peoples using Indo-European lan- 

European guages in antiquity formed a widely extended 
languages group, which reached from India across Asia and 
Europe to the British Isles and Scandinavia. Aryans in 
India, Medes and Persians on the plateau of Iran, Greeks and 
Italians, and the Celtic, Teutonic (Germanic), and Slavic 
peoples of Europe spoke related tongues. Their likeness is 
illustrated by the common words for relationship. Terms 
such as “father,” “mother,” “brother,” and “daughter” 
occur with slight changes in form in nearly all the Indo- 
European languages. Thus, “father” in Sanskrit (the old 
Aryan language of India) is pitar , in ancient Persian, pidar , 
in Greek, pater , in Latin, pater , and in German, Vater. 
There must have been at one time a single speech from which 
all the Indo-European languages have descended. They are 
spoken to-day by about a third of mankind. 

Indo-European Languages 


1. Asiatic (Aryans, Medes, and Persians) 

2. Graeco-Latin (Greeks, Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, French, 
Rumanians) 

3. Celtic (Welsh, Irish, Highland Scots) 

4. Teutonic (Germans, Dutch, Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, 
English) 

5. Slavic 

a. South Slavs (Jugoslavs) 

b. West Slavs (Czechoslovaks, Poles) 

c. East Slavs (Russians) 


9. Writing and the Alphabet 

The drawings and paintings made in the Palaeolithic Age 
were mostly simple representations of objects. Man did not 
remain satisfied with them. He wanted to record thoughts 





29 


Writing and the Alphabet 

and actions, and so his pictures tended to become symbols of 
ideas. The figure of an arrow might be used to indicate the 
idea of an “enemy,” and two arrows directed Picture 
against each other, the idea of a “fight.” Many writing 
savage and barbarous peoples still have this symbolic picture 
writing. The American Indians wrote on rolls of birch bark 
and on skins of animals, thus preserving stories, songs, and 
even tribal annals. 

A new stage in the development of writing was reached 
when the picture represented not an actual object or an idea, 
but a sound of the human voice. This difficult Sound writ- 
but all-important step seems to have been taken ing; the rebus 
by means of the rebus. It is a way of expressing words by 


Sun Moon 

Mountain 

Tall 

Song (a mouth 
and a bird) 

Light 

O 2> 


$ 


©J> 

0 £ 


IK 




Chinese Picture Writing and Later Conventional Characters 


It is possible in some cases to recognize the original pictures out of which Chinese 
writing developed. Thus the sun, originally a large circle with a dot in the center, 
became a crossed oblong, which the painter found easier to make with his brush. 
Chinese is the only living language in which such pictures have survived and still 
denote what they denoted in the beginning. 

pictures of objects whose names resemble those words or the 
syllables in them. What makes the rebus possible is the 
fact that every language contains words having the same 
sound but different meanings. The Indians of Mexico, 
before the Spanish conquest, had gone so far as to write 
names of persons and places by means of the rebus. They 
represented the proper name, Itzcoatl, by the drawing of a 
snake (coatl) surrounded by knives (itz). The Egyptian 
words for “sun” and “goose” were so nearly alike that the 
royal title, “Son of the Sun,” could be suggested by grouping 
the pictures of the sun and a goose. Rebus-making is still 
a common amusement among children, but to early man 
it was a serious occupation. 


30 


The World’s Peoples 


In the simplest form of sound writing each separate picture 
or symbol stands for the sound of an entire word; hence there 
words must be as many signs as there are words in the 
language. This is the case with Chinese writing. 
A dictionary *of Chinese contains approximately twenty-five 
thousand words in good usage, every one represented by a 
separate written sign. No student ever learns them all, of 
course. It is enough for ordinary purposes to be familiar 
with about three thousand signs. The mastery of even this 


1 


2 


3 


4 

5 


5>o'? 


I <3 yg f^=a 


III o 





/V 

/ 

h 

f 

5 

51 

s 

1 ^ 
1 TJI 
tb v 

• 

t 

* 

La 

a 


-HHTB 

44 


it Brirr- 






Egyptian and Babylonian Writing 

Below the pictured hieroglyphs in the first line is the same text in a simpler writing 
known as hieratic. The two systems, however, were not distinct; they were as 
identical as our own printed and written characters. The third line illustrates old 
Babylonian cuneiform, in which the characters, like the hieroglyphs, are rude and 
broken-down pictures of objects. Derived from them is the later cuneiform shown 
in lines four and five. 


number is so laborious a process that reading and writing 
have never been popularized in China. 

A more developed form of sound writing arises when signs 
are employed for the sounds of separate syllables. All the 
Syllables words of a language may then be written with 
comparatively few signs. The Babylonians and 
Assyrians possessed in their cuneiform (Latin cuneus , 
“wedge”) writing signs for between four and five hundred 
syllables. Recent discoveries in Crete indicate that the 

































31 


Writing and the Alphabet 

ancient inhabitants of that island had a somewhat similar 
system. The Japanese found it possible to express all the 
sounds in their language by forty-seven syllables, one stand¬ 
ing for ro , another for ha , and so forth. The signs for these 
syllables were taken from Chinese writing. 

The final stage in the development of writing is reached 
when the separate sounds of the human voice are analyzed so 
far that each one can be represented by a single Letters 
letter. The Egyptians early made an alphabet. 
Unfortunately, they never abandoned their older methods 


HEBREW 

NAMES 

GREEK 

NAMES 

HEBREW 

PHOENICIAN 

WEST 

GREEK 

EARLY 

LATIN 

LATER 

LATIN 

ALEPH 

ALPHA 

8 

< 

A 

AA 

A 

BETH 

BETA 

3 

$ 

B 

[fr] 

B 

GIMEL 

GAMMA 

* 

1 

rc 

C 

C 

DALETH 

DELTA 

*1 

A 

AOD 

> 

D 

HE 

EPSILON 

n 


E E 


E 


Characters of the Alphabet 

The Greeks always believed that their alphabet came to them from Phoenicia. 
Proofs of such transmission are: first, the close resemblance between the forms of 
the oldest Greek letters and the Phoenician letters; second, the order of the letters; 
and, lastly, the names of the letters, which in Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, and 
other Semitic languages are much the same as those in Greek. These names show 
the picture origin of the alphabetic signs. Thus, in Semitic languages aleph {alpha) 
means an ox; beth {beta) a house; gimel {gamma) a camel; daleth {delta) a door; 
and so on. 

of writing and relied upon alphabetic signs alone. Egyptian 
hieroglyphs are a curious jumble of object-pictures, symbols 
of ideas, and signs for entire words, separate syllables, and 
letters. The writing is a museum of all the steps in the 
progress of writing from the picture to the letter. 

As early, perhaps, as the tenth century B.c., the Phceni- 











32 


The World’s Peoples 

cians of western Asia were in possession of an alphabet. It 
consisted of twenty-two letters, each representing a consonant. 
Phoenician The Phoenicians seem to have borrowed their 
alphabet ( 65 ) alphabetic signs, but whether from the Egyp¬ 
tians or the Cretans, or even in part from the Babylonians, 
remains uncertain. The Greeks, according to their own 
traditions, imported the alphabet from Phoenicia and added 
signs for vowels. The Greek form of the Phoenician alphabet 
afterward spread to Italy, where the Romans received it, 
modified some of the letters, and then passed it on to the 
peoples of western Europe. From them it has reached us. 


10. The Record of the Past* 

History is based on written records. Some of these are 
inscriptions cut in stone, or painted over the surface of a wall, 
written rec- or stamped upon metal tablets. Other written 
ords records are documents of various sorts. The 

Babylonians used tablets of soft clay, on which their cunei¬ 
form signs were impressed with a metal instrument. The 
tablets were then baked hard in an oven, thus forming al¬ 
most indestructible brick “books.” The Egyptians traced 
their hieroglyphic characters with a pen and a dark pigment 
upon papyrus. This river reed grew plentifully in the Nile 
marshes. The stem was split into thin strips which were 
laid at right angles, pasted together, pressed, and dried, 
thus forming a sheet. The Greeks and Romans also used 
papyrus paper, as well as the more durable parchment 
prepared from sheepskin. Linen paper seems to have been 
a Chinese discovery, which the Arabs introduced into Eu¬ 
rope during the Middle Ages. Printing, by means of mov¬ 
able type, was also known in the Far East before the first 
presses were set up in Europe about five hundred years ago 
(§ 194). 

Inscriptions and documents preserve the memory of hu¬ 
man achievements. As long as all information had to be 


The Record of the Past 


33 


handed down by word of mouth from one generation to the 
next — the method of oral tradition — a genuine history 
was impossible. Traditional information sopn be- Written rec _ 
came unreliable and often quite false, like village ords and 
gossip that has been many times retold. Written hlstory 
records alone enabled men widely separated in space and 
time to share a common knowledge and transmit it to 
future ages. Men could now keep an account of the past 
which was exact, comprehensive, and ever growing with the 
growth of civilization. 

History begins in different countries at different dates. 
The annals of Egypt go back more than three thousand 
years before Christ, and those of Babylonia are Beginnings of 
scarcely less ancient. Trustworthy records in histor y 
China and India do not extend beyond 1000 B.c., while 
those of Greece and Rome are still later by several centuries. 
It was only after the opening of the Christian era that most 
parts of Europe entered the historic age. And it was not 
until the time of Columbus that the New World came into 
the light of history. 

The whole historic age may be conveniently divided into 
three periods. Ancient history starts with Oriental peoples, 
who were the first to develop the arts of civiliza- Subdivisions 
tion, deals next with the Greeks, and ends with of history 
the Romans, who built up an empire embracing much of the 
civilized world. Medieval history is chiefly concerned with 
the peoples of eastern and western Europe during a thousand 
years or more after the decline and fall of the Roman Em¬ 
pire. Modern history now embraces almost all mankind. It 
is no longer a history of Asia or of Europe, but of the world. 
The student will understand, however, that it is really im¬ 
possible to separate one historic period from another. The 
change from antiquity to the Middle Ages and, again, from 
the medieval to the modern world, was in each case a gradual 
process extending over several centuries. The truth is that 
the social life of man forms a continuous growth and that 
man's history is an uninterrupted stream. 


34 


The World’s Peoples 


For Explanation 


race 

people 

Negroid race 
Mongoloid race 
Caucasian race 


Hamitic languages 
Semitic languages 
Indo-European languages 
Aryans 
Sanscrit 


syllabic writing 

hieroglyphs 

cuneiform 

papyrus 

parchment 


For Discussion 


1. What is meant by the “unity of man”? 

2. How do migrations often result in the fusion or mixture of peoples? 

3. Give examples of peoples widely different in blood who nevertheless 
speak the same language. 

4. How do you account for the names Hamites and Semites? 

5. Show that the Indo-European languages are closely related. How is 
this relationship explained? 

6. Is Chinese writing verbal, syllabic, or alphabetic? Was Egyptian 
writing one of these three exclusively? 

7. Why is alphabetic writing superior to writing by syllables? 

8. Why may the “Phoenician” alphabet be regarded as a composite in¬ 
vention? 

9. What is meant by oral tradition? Why does it grow more and more 
unreliable in the course of time? 

10. Comment on the importance of writing for the development of civiliza¬ 
tion. 

11. In what century was the year 1930 b.c.? the year 1930 A.D.? 


For Further Study 


1. Enumerate the principal peoples belonging to the Negroid and Mongo¬ 
loid races, respectively. Locate these peoples on the map (page 23). 

2. Indicate the areas occupied in ancient times by Hamitic, Semitic, and 
Indo-European peoples (map, page 24). 

3. Compare hieroglyphic and cuneiform writing with reference to legi¬ 
bility and simplicity (illustration, page 30). Which seems to be the 
better system? 

4. Look up the derivation of the words cuneiform, hieroglyph, alphabet, 
paper, and Bible. 

5. Prepare an oral report on the Blackfellows, or native inhabitants of 
Australia, with especial attention to the cultural elements lacking in 
their life and society. 

6. Read Thomas De Quincey’s The Flight of a Tartar Tribe, to get some 
ideas of a migration, and make a report to the class. 


Part II 


BEGINNINGS OF CIVILIZATION 
IN THE ORIENT 


(Chapters III-IV) 


What the historian rather vaguely calls “The East” or “The 
Orient” includes not only all the continent and islands of Asia, 
but also the northern part of Africa, especially Egypt, which is a 
sort of annex of Asia. Some Oriental peoples, in both the Far 
East and the Near East, had entered the light of history when 
Europeans remained in the darkness of the prehistoric age. How¬ 
ever, the peoples of the Far East during ancient times were isolated 
and apart from the rest of mankind. It is only in our own day 
that India and China, and now Japan, have begun to emerge 
from age-long seclusion and take much part in the affairs of the 
world. The Near East in ancient times is therefore the principal 
subject of Chapter III, which tells how the first cities of men arose 
on the banks of the Nile and the Tigris-Euphrates, how the cities 
combined into kingdoms and the kingdoms into empires — 
Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian — and how at length nearly all 
the countries of the Near East were brought together in the great 
Persian realm. The chapter covers the longest stretch of history, 
for it deals with the events of at least 3000 years — from 3500 b.c. 
or even earlier to about 500 b.c. 

It is not enough to become familiar with the political develop¬ 
ment of the Orient for thirty centuries; we must also find out 
what we can about cultural progress during this long stretch of 
time. Chapter IV, on Oriental life and thought, emphasizes 
particularly the contributions of the Egyptians and the Baby¬ 
lonians, who had reached a very considerable degree of civiliza¬ 
tion while their neighbors still lagged behind in savagery and 
barbarism. The Phoenicians, the Hebrews, and the Persians also 
added much to the fabric of civilization. The cultural acquisitions 
of the Near East gradually spread abroad and, by way of the water 
routes across the Mediterranean and the land routes through 
Asia Minor, found an entrance into Europe. There what the Near 
East had to offer was taken over and improved upon by that gifted 
people who called themselves “Hellenes” and whom we know as 
Greeks. 




CHAPTER III 


THE LANDS OF THE EAST 

What we mean by civilization, culture, and good breeding is nothing 
but a sum of brilliant ideas for the most part inherited by us and of Asiatic 
or Egyptian origin. 

— O. Peschel 

Both in Egypt and Mesopotamia nature had erected exceptionally 
favorable conditions for developing an ordered life of effort — the only 
kind of life capable of creating a real culture. 

— M. Rostovtzeff 


11. Physical Asia 

Some of the earliest geographers divided the world as 
known to them into two parts only, Europe and Asia (in¬ 
cluding Egypt). The former was the West, the The name 
land of the setting sun; the latter was the East, “ Asia ” 
the land of the rising sun. By Asia the Greeks seem at first 
to have meant simply western Asia Minor, and the Romans 
also gave this name to their province there. The name later 
came to be applied to the entire continent. 

Asia comprises almost one-third of the land surface of the 
globe. Its boundaries on the north, east, and south are 
easily traced. On the west the Mediterranean Boundaries 
and the Black and Caspian seas separate it in of Asia 
part from Europe. The Caucasus range, over nine hundred 
miles in length, and from thirty to one hundred and forty 
miles in width, also serves as a western boundary. These 
lofty mountains have been very important, historically, as 
a barrier to migrations. On the other hand, the broad, 
low range of the Urals offers few obstacles to movement 
over them, while between them and the Caspian the Asiatic 
steppe merges insensibly into the European plain. Europe 

37 














































































China and India 39 

has thus been always open to the nomadic tribes of central 
and northern Asia. 

Asia reaches from near the equator to a point halfway 
between the Arctic Circle and the North Pole. It has, 
therefore, a wide variety of climates. Some of climatic con- 
the highest temperatures known are registered ditions in Asia 
in southern Asia and some of the lowest in northern Asia. 
The differences in altitude, ranging from the Caspian basin 
below sea-level to the great plateau of Tibet, whose mean 
elevation is about fifteen thousand feet above the sea, also 
profoundly affect climatic conditions. The mountains of 
central Asia are so high that they precipitate the moisture 
borne by the ocean winds, with the result that the interior 
of the continent has little rainfall and is often completely 
arid. 

The coast line of Asia is comparatively uniform and unin¬ 
dented, offering fewer opportunities for sea-borne traffic than 
the deeply indented shores of Europe. The Asiaand 
mighty mountains of Asia present barriers to Europe com- 
intercourse such as are not afforded by the lower pared 
ranges of Europe. Extensive deserts and barren table-lands, 
which form so characteristic a feature of Asia, are unknown 
in Europe. Asia, in proportion to its size, is not so well 
supplied as Europe with navigable streams. The climate 
of Asia is far less mild and equable than that of Europe. The 
two land masses thus present striking contrasts in their 
physical features (§ 29). 

12. China and India 

A physical map of Asia shows that the continent consists 
of two grand divisions, separated by an almost continuous 
mass of mountains and deserts. These two di- The Far Eagt 
visions are the Far East and the Near East. 

The Far East begins in central Asia with a series of ele¬ 
vated table-lands, which rise into the lofty plateaus known 
as the “Roof of the World.” Here two tremendous moun- 


40 


The Lands of the East 


tain chains diverge. The Altai range, with its continua¬ 
tions, runs to the northeast and reaches the Pacific near 
Bering Strait. The Himalaya range, with its continuations, 
extends southeast to the Malay peninsula. From these 
mountains and plateaus the ground sinks gradually toward 
the west and north into the lowlands of Turkestan and 



The Great Wall of China 

The wall was begun in 214 b.c. to protect the northern frontier of China from the inroads 
of Tatar tribes, and was gradually extended until it reached a length of 1500 miles. It con¬ 
sists of two ramparts of brick, resting upon granite foundations. The space within is filled 
with stones and earth. The breadth of the wall is about 25 feet; its height is between 20 
and 30 feet. Watch towers, 40 feet high, occur every 200 yards. In places of strategic im¬ 
portance there are sometimes as many as five huge loops, with miles of country between, so 
that if one loop were captured the next might still be defended. Many parts of this colossal 
fortification are even now in good condition. 

Siberia, and toward the east and south into the plains of 
China, Indo-China, and India. 

The annals of China, according to native authorities, be¬ 
gan nearly five thousand years ago, but we do not reach firm 
Historic age historical ground until about 1000 b.c. The 
in china civilization developed by the Chinese in antiq¬ 

uity has lasted with little change until modern times. The 
inhabitants of neighboring countries, including Tibet, Korea 
(Chosen), Indo-China, and Japan, owe much to this civiliza¬ 
tion. It has exerted slight influence on Western peoples be- 




China and India 


41 


cause the Chinese have always occupied a distant corner of 
the Asiatic continent, separated from the rest of the world 
by wide seas, extensive mountain ranges, and trackless 
deserts. As if these barriers were not enough, the Chinese 
raised the Great Wall to protect themselves from invasion. 
China in antiquity had some foreign trade and came to be 
known as the Silk Land (Serica), from the silken goods 
which found a way into the 
markets of western Asia and 
Europe. But the country to 
the ancients was a land of 
mystery. 

The most striking feature of 
Chinese civilization is its long, 
unbroken develop- stability of 
ment through so China 
many centuries. Other civili¬ 
zations, with equal and possibly 
superior claims to permanency, 
have disappeared; for instance, 
those of ancient Egypt, Baby¬ 
lonia, Greece, and Rome. The 
stability of China may be 
ascribed, in part, to the ex¬ 
istence of a written language 
common to the entire country; Confucius 

in part, to the emphasis on A stone carving in the temple of 
ancestor worship and the fam- Confucius at K ‘ iu Fu * 

ily tie; and, in great part, to the moral and social teach¬ 
ings of Confucius (551-478 B.c.), which are accepted by 
the whole people. There are, of course, many other influ¬ 
ences making for stability. China has always lived largely 
by agriculture, that most conservative of occupations, and 
the system of small holdings in vogue from remote times 
gives the inhabitants a proprietary interest in the soil. The 
great personal freedom which prevails in Chinese society 
and the absence of caste and rigid class distinctions have also 





42 


The Lands of the East 


India 


helped to make the people well satisfied with their civiliza¬ 
tion. Finally, China is so big and populous that it has al¬ 
ways been able to absorb foreign invaders. “China,” as 
an old writer well said, “is a sea that salts all the rivers 
flowing into it.” 

India was better known than China, especially its two 
great rivers, the Indus and the Ganges, which flow to the 

southwest and southeast 
respectively, and make 
this part of the 
peninsula one 
of the most fertile terri¬ 
tories on the globe. Such 
a land attracted immi¬ 
grants. The region now 
known as the Punj ab, where 
the Indus receives the wa¬ 
ters of five great streams, 
was settled by an Indo- 
European people (§8), the 
Aryans, sometime after 
2000 b.c. They also spread 
over the valley of the Gan¬ 
ges and so brought all 
northern India under their 
control. 

The earliest writings that 
throw light on the history 
The Aryans of the Aryans in 
in India India are the 
hymns of the Rig-Veda. 
These were composed about 
1000 b.c. or later. The 
Aryans are there represented as a hardy, vigorous people; 
familiar with agriculture, though more given to pastoral 
pursuits; having chiefs, but no real kings; and worshiping 
the “bright gods” of nature with prayer and hymn and 



Seated Buddha 

A sculpture at Benares, India, dating from 
the fifth century a.d. The figure of Buddha is 
posed with an elaborately carved halo behind 
the head. 














































































































- 











































43 


Egypt : the Valley of the Nile 

offering. The Aryans mingled more or less with the dark- 
skinned natives (Dravidians), whose lands they seized and 
whom they made serfs and slaves. Rigid social classes, 
or castes, such as still exist in India, gradually developed. 
Petty tribal chieftainships gave place to powerful monarchies. 
The simple Vedic faith became the religion of Brahmanism, 
with its priests called Brahmans, its grotesque idolatry, its 
huge temples, and its elaborate sacrifices. India also pro¬ 
duced the religion of Buddhism, which was first taught by 
the great reformer, Gautama Buddha (about 568-488 b.c.). 
Buddhism afterward spread from India throughout the Far 
East. 

India did not remain entirely isolated from the rest of Asia. 
The Punjab was twice conquered by invaders from the West; 
by the Persians in the sixth century B.c. (§ 17), India and 
and about two hundred years later by the Greeks the West 
(§ 51). From this time India began to emerge from ob¬ 
scurity. A considerable commerce existed with Western 
peoples, by land routes through central Asia and by water 
routes leading across the Arabian Sea and up the Persian 
Gulf and the Red Sea. 1 Such Indian luxuries as precious 
stones, ivory, spices, and fine cotton stuffs were thus intro¬ 
duced among Western peoples. India always remained, 
however, outside the regions familiar to the ancient Greeks 
and Romans. 

13. Egypt: 4he Valley of the Nile 

The smaller of the two grand divisions of Asia is the Near 
East. It comprises the region between the Black and Cas¬ 
pian seas on the north, the Red Sea, Persian The Near 
Gulf, and Indian Ocean on the south, the Indus East 
River on the east, and the Mediterranean and the Nile on 
the west. The Near East consists of several vegetation 
belts, whose respective areas may be traced on the accom¬ 
panying map. 2 The forest belt supported a migratory, hunt- 
1 See the map, page 17. 2 See the map, page 55. 


44 


The Lands of the East 


ing folk. The steppe belt formed the home of nomadic, 
pastoral tribes. As for the semi-deserts and deserts, these 
were only habitable in oases. Men could settle down and 
adopt an agricultural life only where they were assured of a 



The area comprised within the limits of Upper and Lower Egypt is indicated on the 
map. The conquered regions outside were Nubia, Ethiopia, Libya, Palestine, Phoenicia, 
and Syria. The islands of Cyprus and Crete, though independent, were under Egyp¬ 
tian influence. 

constant water supply and enduring sunlight. They found 
this assurance particularly in the valleys of the Nile and the 
Tigris-Euphrates rivers. 

































45 


Egypt: the Valley of the Nile 

The Nile is the longest of the great African rivers. The 
White Nile rises in Lake Victoria, flows due north, and re¬ 
ceives the waters of the Blue Nile near the 
modern town of Khartum. The course of the The Nlle 
river is broken from this point by a series of five rocky 
rapids, misnamed cataracts, which can be shot by boats. 
The cataracts cease near the island of Philse and Upper 
Egypt begins. It is a valley about five hundred miles long 
and about thirty miles wide. The strip of cultivable soil 
on each side of the river averages, however, only eight miles 
in width. Not far from modern Cairo the hills inclosing 
the valley fall away, the Nile divides into numerous branches, 
and the delta of Lower Egypt begins. The sluggish stream 
passes through a region of mingled swamp and plain, and 
at length by three principal mouths empties into the Medi¬ 
terranean. 

The annual inundation of the Nile is responsible for the 
fertility of Egypt. The river begins to rise in June, when the 
snow melts on the Abyssinian mountains. High- inundation of 
water mark, some thirty feet above the ordinary the Nile 
level, is reached in September. The inhabitants then make 
haste to cut the confining dikes and to spread the fertilizing 
water over their fields. Egypt takes on the appearance of a 
turbid lake, dotted here and there with island villages and 
crossed in every direction by highways elevated above the 
flood. Late in October the river begins to subside and by 
December has returned to its normal level. As the water 
recedes it deposits that dressing of vegetable mold which 
makes the soil of Egypt perhaps the richest in the world. 

People could live and thrive in Egypt. The soil produced 
after irrigation three crops of grain, flax, and vegetables a 
year. The clay of the valley and easily worked Egypt a seat 
stone from the adjacent mountains furnished of early 
building materials. The hot, dry climate enabled clvlllzatlon 
the inhabitants to get along with little shelter and clothing. 
The Nile provided them with a natural highway for domestic 
trade. Such favoring circumstances allowed the Egyptians 


46 


The Lands of the East 


to increase in numbers and to gather in populous communi¬ 
ties. At a time when most of their neighbors were still in 
the darkness of the prehistoric age, the Egyptians had en¬ 
tered the light of history. 

The Nile Valley seems to have been inhabited at a remote 
period by Neolithic men in the barbarian stage of culture. 
Prehistoric They made beautiful implements of polished 
era in Egypt flint, fashioned pottery, built in brick and stone, 
sailed boats on the Nile, introduced such useful animals as 
the buffalo, donkey, and goat, and tilled the soil. In time, 



Step Pyramid of Zoser 


The first pyramid. Built by the Pharaoh Zoser, about 3000 b.c., for his tomb in the desert 
of Sakkara, the cemetery of ancient Memphis. Height about 200 feet. The steps, or ter¬ 
races, probably represent unfinished construction. This is the oldest surviving stone 
building in the world. 

they began to smelt copper (§ 4) and to write by means of 
phonetic signs (§9). Both metallurgy and sound writing 
arose in Egypt earlier than anywhere else in the world. 
The Neolithic Egyptians must have lived at first in separate 
tribes, under the rule of chiefs. As civilization advanced, 
the tribal organization gave way to city-states, that is, to 
small, independent communities, each one centering about 
a town or a city. The city-states by 4000 b.c. had combined 
into two kingdoms, one in the Delta, the other in Upper 
Egypt. 




47 


Egypt 1 the Valley of the Nile 

The Egyptians began to keep written records about 
3400 b.c. This date coincides pretty closely with that of the 
union of Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt under Dawn of 
a ruler named Menes. He was thus the first history in 
of that long line of kings, or “Pharaohs” (as Egypt ^ 
they are called in the Old Testament), who for nearly three 
thousand years held sway over Egypt. 



Hall of Columns at Karnak (Restored) 


The crowning glory of the Temple of Amon-Ra at Karnak was the Hall of Columns, be¬ 
gun by Raineses I and completed by his grandson, Rameses II. This great hall measured 
329 feet in length and 170 feet in depth. The nave in the center reached 79 feet in height. 
There were 134 columns in all. The twelve enormous columns supporting the roof of the 
nave were made much higher than those on each side, in order to insert clerestory windows. 
All the roofing slabs of the hall have disappeared, so that now one has difficulty in realizing 
its true architectural effect. 

Several centuries after Menes, we reach the age of the 
Pharaohs who raised the pyramids. Probably no other rulers 
have ever stamped their memory so indelibly on The pyramid 
the pages of history as the builders of these builders ( 2 ) 
mighty structures. The most celebrated monarch of this 
time was the Pharaoh Khufu, whom the Greeks called 
Cheops. The Great Pyramid which he erected for his tomb 
remains a lasting witness to his power. Though we know 
little of Khufu and his successors, the Egypt over which 
they ruled must have been the home of a highly gifted and 
civilized people. 

































48 


The Lands of the East 


Egypt occupies an isolated position, being protected by 
deserts on each side, by the Mediterranean on the north, 
The Egyptian and by the cataracts of the Nile (impeding navi- 
kingdom gation) on the south. Thus sheltered from the 
inroads of foreign peoples, the Egyptians enjoyed many 
centuries of peaceful progress. About 1800 B.c., however, 
they came for a time under the sway of barbarous Semitic 
tribes, called Hyksos, who entered Egypt through the Isth¬ 
mus of Suez. After the ex¬ 
pulsion of the intruders the 
Egyptians themselves began a 
career of conquest. The Pha¬ 
raohs raised great armies, in¬ 
vaded Palestine, Phoenicia, 
and Syria, and extended their 
rule as far as the middle Eu¬ 
phrates. Even the islands of 
Cyprus and Crete seem to 
have been under Egyptian in¬ 
fluence. The conquered terri¬ 
tories paid a tribute of the 
precious metals and merchan¬ 
dise, while the forced labor of 
thousands of war captives 
enabled Rameses II (about 
1292-1225 B.c.) and other 
famous Pharaohs to erect great 
monuments in every part of 
their realms. The ruins of 
these stupendous structures attest the might and majesty 
of ancient Egypt. Gradually, however, Egypt declined in 
warlike energy; her Asiatic possessions fell away; and the 
country itself in the sixth century b.c. became a part of 
the Persian Empire. The Egyptians remained under foreign 
masters from this time until our own day. 

The Pharaohs ruled at first from Memphis (near modem 
Cairo) in Lower Egypt, but later Thebes in Upper Egypt 



Head of Mummy of Rameses II 

Egyptian Museum, Cairo 
The mummy was discovered in 1881 in 
an underground chamber near the site of 
Thebes. With it were the coffins and 
bodies of more than a score of royal per¬ 
sonages. Rameses II was over ninety years 
of age at the time of his death. In spite 
of the somewhat grotesque disguise of 
mummification, the face of this famous 
Pharaoh still wears an aspect of majesty 
and pride. 


49 


Egypt 1 the Valley of the Nile 

became their capital. Ancient Thebes stood on both banks 
of the Nile and must have once covered a wide area. The 
public buildings, the quays, the walls with their Thebe , 
“hundred gates,” and the thousands of brick 
dwellings are now represented by a few insignificant mounds. 
The wasting hand of time has been kinder to the celebrated 



The Colossi of Memnon 

These two gigantic statues of sandstone conglomerate, seventy feet in height, represent 
Amenhotep III, who set them up on the west side of the Nile at Thebes about 1400 b.c. 
They were probably only the vanguard of a procession of statues forming the approach to 
the mortuary temple of the Pharaoh, which has now disappeared. Each one is badly muti¬ 
lated. The upper half of the right-hand statue was thrown down by an earthquake in 
27 b.c., and thereafter the headless trunk emitted at sunrise a curious musical note. The 
phenomenon was due to the cracking of the stone, wet with dew, under the sun’s fierce rays. 
The Greeks identified the vocal statue with Memnon, son of the Dawn, and tourists from 
all parts of the Roman Empire came to hear him sing at sunrise. The emperor Septimius 
Severus thought to do Memnon honor by repairing his statue and built up the broken part 
with blocks of limestone. The effect was disastrous, for the monument once more became 
dumb. 

temples on the eastern side of the Nile, where lie the modern 
villages of Karnak and Luxor. The temple of Amon-Ra 
at Karnak was one of the most imposing structures ever 
raised by man. From Karnak an avenue more than a mile 
long, once lined with ram-headed sphinxes, approached the 
temple of Luxor, which was also erected in honor of the 



50 


The Lands of the East 


great god Amon. 1 The western side of the Nile does not lack 
monuments. Here Rameses II built an imposing temple, 
the Ramesseum, and placed before it a seated statue of 
himself, fifty-seven feet in height. Its huge fragments still 
strew the ground. Not far away an earlier Pharaoh set up 
two gigantic statues of himself, but now called the Colossi 
of Memnon. The Tombs of the Kings are hollowed out in 
the sides of a mountain near Thebes. This royal cemetery 
is a labyrinth of corridors and chambers, once containing 
the bodies of some of the most famous Egyptian rulers. 
The rock tombs, though carefully hidden, were rifled by 
robbers at an early date. The only Pharaoh whose last rest¬ 
ing place has been found undisturbed is Tutankhamen. 


14. Babylonia: the Tigris-Euphrates Valley 


Two famous rivers rise in the mountains of Armenia — the 
Tigris and the Euphrates. Flowing southward, they ap- 
The Tigris proach each other to form a common valley, 
and the proceed in parallel channels for the greater part 

Euphrates 0 £ their courses, and unite shortly before reach¬ 
ing the Persian Gulf. In antiquity each river had a separate 
mouth. The soil which the Tigris and Euphrates bring 
down every year fills up the Persian Gulf at the rate of about 
three miles a century. Their delta was therefore much less 
extensive five or six thousand years ago than it is to-day. 

This delta forms a plain anciently about one hundred and 
seventy miles long and rarely more than forty miles wide. 
The “land of In the Old Testament it is called the “land of 
Shinar ” Shinar.” We know it better as Babylonia, after 
Babylon, which became its leading city and capital. 

The plain of Babylonia was once wonderfully fertile. The 
Babylonia a alluvial soil, when properly irrigated, yielded 
seat of early abundant harvests of wheat, barley, and millet, 
civilization f ru it of the date palm provided a nutritious 

food. Although there was no stone, clay was everywhere. 

1 See the plate facing page 87. 


Babylonia: the Tigris-Euphrates Valley 51 

Molded into brick and afterward dried in the sun, the clay 
became adobe , the cheapest building material imaginable. 
Nature, indeed, had done much for Babylonia. We can 
understand, therefore, why from prehistoric times people 
have been attracted to this region, and why it is here that 
we find another seat of early civilization. 

The valley of the Tigris-Euphrates, unlike that of the 
Nile, was not isolated. It opened on extensive mountain 
and steppe regions, the home of hunting or of The Babyio- 
pastoral peoples. Their inroads and migrations nian kingdom 
into the fertile plain of the two rivers formed a constant 
feature of Babylonian his¬ 
tory. The earliest inhab¬ 
itants of the “land of 
Shinar,” about whom we 
know anything, were the 
Sumerians. They entered 
the country through the 
passes of the eastern or 
northern mountains about 
four thousand years be¬ 
fore Christ, gradually 
settled down to an agri¬ 
cultural life, and formed 
a number of independent 
city-states, each with its 
king and its patron god. 

After the Sumerians came 
Semitic peoples, probably 
from northern Arabia. 

Under a leader named Sargon (about 2800 B.c.) the Semites 
subdued the Sumerians and began to adopt their civilization. 
Sargon united all the Sumerian city-states. He also carried 
his victorious arms as far west as Syria and ruled over “the 
countries of the sea of the setting sun” (the Mediterranean). 
Sargon was, in fact, the first of the world-conquerors. Many 
centuries later another great Semitic ruler, Hammurabi 



Sumerian Soldiers 

Louvre, Paris 

The monument shows a king leading out his 
army to battle. He wears a conical helmet and 
carries a spear and a throwing-stick. Each 
soldier grasps in both hands a long pike, which 
projects beyond the shields of the front rank. 
This military arrangement is called a phalanx. 




52 


The Lands of the East 


(about 2100 b.c.), made his native city of Babylon, at first 
an obscure and unimportant place, the capital of what was 
henceforth called the Babylonian kingdom. 

15. Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine 

The region between the Mediterranean and the deserts of 
Arabia contained in antiquity three small countries: Syria 
Aramaeans (north of the Jordan), Phoenicia, and Palestine. 

Their situation put them on the great highway 
of the Near East, and through them ran the caravan routes 
connecting the Nile and the Euphrates. The inhabitants 
spoke Semitic languages (§ 8) and probably came from 
northern Arabia. They are known as Aramaeans, Phoeni¬ 
cians, and Hebrews. None of these peoples ever played a 
leading part in the history of the Near East, but each made 
important contributions to civilization. The Aramaeans were 
keen business men, who bought and sold throughout west¬ 
ern Asia. Their language thus became widely spread and 
in time took the place of Hebrew as the ordinary speech in 
Palestine. Some parts of the Old Testament are written in 
Aramaic. The chief center of the Aramaeans was Damascus, 
one of the oldest cities in the world and still a thriving place. 
The city is beautiful for situation, lying on the edge of the 
desert, but amid green gardens and orchards watered by 
never-failing streams. It has been called the “pearl of the 
Orient/’ 

The Phoenicians occupied a narrow stretch of coast, about 
one hundred and twenty miles in length and seldom more 
Phoenicians than twelve miles in width, between the Lebanon 
( 66 ) Mountains and the sea. This tiny land could not 

support a large population by farming, so the Phoenicians 
became a nation of sailors. They found in the cedars of 
Lebanon a soft, white wood for shipbuilding, and in the 
Egyptian vessels which had been entering their harbors for 
centuries a model for their own craft. The great Phoenician 
cities of Sidon and Tyre established colonies throughout the 


Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine 53 

Mediterranean and had an extensive commerce with almost 
every region of the ancient world (§22). 

We enter Palestine by the Jordan River. The name means 
“the descender,” an appropriate name, for after passing 
through the Lake of Galilee the Jordan becomes a 
series of swift rapids and at length mingles with e rews 
the salty waters of the Dead Sea, thirteen hundred feet be¬ 
low the level of the Mediterranean. The western part of 



A Phcenician Warship 

From a slab found at Nineveh in the palace of the Assyrian king, 
Sennacherib. The vessel shown is a bireme with two decks. On the 
upper deck are soldiers with their shields hanging over the side. The 
oarsmen sit on the lower deck, eight at each side. The crab catching 
the fish is a humorous touch. 

Palestine, more familiarly known as Canaan, was the home 
of the Hebrews. Their traditions are found in the Old Testa¬ 
ment, especially in the two books called Genesis and Exodus. 

We learn how Abraham journeyed from “Ur of the Chal¬ 
dees,” a very ancient city on the desert edge of Babylonia, 
and took up his abode in Canaan; how his grandson Jacob 
(or Israel), when a sore famine troubled the land, went down 
into Egypt with all his family and settled on the rich plains of 
the Delta; how there his descendants dwelt in peace for 
many generations, gaining great possessions and multiplying 
exceedingly; how, when the Egyptians began to vex them 









54 


The Lands of the East 


with grievous burdens, the Israelites united under the leader¬ 
ship of Moses and escaped to the peninsula of Sinai; and 
how they wandered for forty years in the “Wilderness” until 
ready to enter once more the “Promised Land” of Canaan. 

The history of the Hebrews begins with their settlement in 
Canaan. According to the Biblical account, they crossed the 
Hebrews in Jordan under the leader Joshua and after a 
Canaan struggle with the inhabitants made good their 
footing in the new home. The thorough conquest of Canaan 
proved to be no easy task. At first the twelve Hebrew 
tribes formed only a loose and weak confederacy without a 
common head. To resist their enemies with success, it was 
necessary to have a king who could bring all the tribes 
under his firm, well-ordered rule. 

Toward the close of the eleventh century B.c. the Hebrew 
tribes united into one kingdom, under a ruler named Saul. 
The Hebrew j His reign was filled with constant struggles 
kingdom against the warlike Philistines, who occupied 
the southwestern coast of Palestine. David, Saul’s successor, 
overthrew the Philistine power. For a capital city David 
selected the ancient fortress of Jerusalem, which henceforth 
became for the Hebrews the center of their national life. 
The reign of David’s son, Solomon (about 955-925 B.c.), 
formed the most glorious period in Hebrew history. Solo¬ 
mon’s authority reached from the peninsula of Sinai north¬ 
ward to the Lebanon Mountains and the Euphrates. He 
married an Egyptian princess, a daughter of the reigning 
Pharaoh. He joined with a king of Tyre in trading expedi¬ 
tions on the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. The Tyrian ruler 
also supplied him with skilled Phoenician workmen, who built 
at Jerusalem a splendid Temple for the worship of Jehovah. 

The greatness of the Hebrew monarchy did not endure. 
The people were not ready to bear the burdens which their 
Division of government imposed upon them. They objected 
the Hebrew to the standing army, to the forced labor on 
kingdom public buildings, and especially to the heavy 
taxes. The ten northern tribes seceded shortly after Solo- 
































































































56 


The Lands of the East 


mon’s death and established the independent kingdom of 
Israel, with its capital at Samaria. The two southern 
tribes, Judah and Benjamin, formed the kingdom of Judah 
and remained loyal to the successors of Solomon. These 
two small states were constantly attacked by their powerful 
neighbors. The Assyrians finally conquered Israel and the 
Babylonians conquered Judah. 

16. The Empire of Assyria 

North of Babylonia and on each side of the Tigris River lay 
Assyria. The inhabitants spoke a Semitic language related 
Rise of As- to Babylonian. Their chief city was at first 
syria (31-32) Assur (whence the name Assyria), and afterward 
the larger and more splendid Nineveh. They were a rough, 
hardy people devoted to hunting and warlike exercises. 
Having adopted the horse and military chariot, and later 
iron weapons, the Assyrians began a series of sweeping 
conquests. The Assyrian Empire reached its height during 
the eighth and seventh centuries b.c., when it stretched from 
the neighborhood of the Black and Caspian seas to the 
Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the Nile. 1 Assyrian kings, 
in numerous inscriptions, boast of the wreck and ruin they 
brought to many flourishing lands. One of them thus de¬ 
scribes the punishment of a rebellious place: “With battle 
and slaughter I assaulted and took the city. Three thousand 
warriors I slew in battle. Their possessions I carried away. 
Many of their soldiers I took alive; of some I cut off hands 
and limbs; of others the noses, ears, and arms; of many 
soldiers I put out the eyes. I devastated the city, dug it up, 
in fire burned it; I annihilated it.” 

The treatment of conquered peoples by the Assyrian rulers 
is well illustrated by their dealings with the Hebrews. One 
Sargon ii *he mightiest monarchs was a general who 

usurped the throne and assumed the name of 
o2^A%argon, the famous Babylonian king who had reigned more 
1 See the map between pages 42-43. 


57 


The Empire of Assyria 

than two thousand years before him (§ 14). Sargon II first 
turned his attention to the kingdom of Israel, which had 
revolted. He took its capital city of Samaria (722 b.c.) 
and led away many thousands of the citizens into a life¬ 
long captivity in distant Assyria. The Ten Tribes (§ 15) 



An Assyrian King Hunting 

British Museum, London 
A bas-relief from a slab found at Nineveh. 


mingled with the population of that region and henceforth 
disappeared from history. 

Sargon’s son, Sennacherib, though not the greatest, is the 
best known of Assyrian kings. His name is familiar from the 
many references to him in Old Testament writ- Sennacherib 
ings. An inscription by Sennacherib recounts an ( 34 ) 
expedition against Hezekiah, king of Judah, who was shut up 
“like a caged bird in his royal city of Jerusalem.” Sennach¬ 
erib, however, did not capture the place. His troops were 
swept away by a pestilence. The ancient Hebrew writer 
conceives it as the visitation of a destroying angel: “It 
came to pass that night that the angel of Jehovah went 
forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred 
fourscore and five thousand: and when men arose early 
in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.” 

Force built up the Assyrian Empire and only force could 
hold it together. When, therefore, it declined in strength, 



58 


The Lands of the East 


the subject countries made ready to strike a blow for free¬ 
dom. By the middle of the seventh century Egypt had 
Downfall of secured independence, and many other provinces 
Assyria, were ready to revolt. Meanwhile, beyond the 
612 B C ‘ eastern mountains, the Medes were gathering 
ominously on the Assyrian frontier. The storm broke when 


the Median monarch, 
in alliance with the 
king of Babylon, 
moved upon Nineveh 
and took possession of 
it. A legend which 
may not be wholly 
false tells how the last 
Assyrian king, when 
the enemy had burst 
within the walls, col¬ 
lected his treasures 
and his idols, his wives 
and his sons, on a vast 
funeral pyre, and then 



The Dragon of Babylon 


As represented on the Ishtar Gate of Babylon. The 
dragon was sacred to the god Marduk, the protector 
of the city. 


gave himself and them to the flames, to cheat the victors 
of their prey. 

The victors now divided the spoils. Media secured most 
of Assyria proper, together with the long stretch of mountain 
Partition of country extending from the Persian Gulf to 
Assyria Asia Minor. Babylonia obtained the western 

part of the Assyrian domains, all the way to the Mediterra¬ 
nean. Under Nebuchadnezzar II (604-561 B.c.), Babylonia 
again became a great power in the Near East. It was 
Nebuchadnezzar who brought the kingdom of Judah to an 
end, captured Jerusalem, burned Solomon’s Temple, and 
carried away many Hebrews into captivity. All this story 
is related in the Old Testament. 

Nebuchadnezzar lavished upon Babylon the wealth gained 
in his many campaigns. The city lay on both banks of the 
Euphrates, which were connected by a bridge and lined 





ISRAEL IN EGYPT 

After the painting by Sir Edward Poynter. The Israelites are represented as slaves dragging into position a colossal statue of a lion. The ropes strain, 
overseers ply their whips, and high Egyptian personages borne in canopied litters survey the scene. In the right background another great sculptured 
lion is just entering the gate of a temple. 
































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59 


The Empire of Persia 

with quays. Walls of great height and thickness made 
the city almost impregnable. One of the king’s palaces 
was placed on an artificial embankment nearly Babylon , 0? s 
one hundred feet high. The sides rose in a series 
of terraces, which were planted with trees and shrubs. It 
is said that Nebuchadnezzar built these “Hanging Gardens,” 
or artificial hills, to please his Median wife, who longed for 
the mountains of her native land. Another mound, near 
Babylon, marks the site of a splendid temple with eight 
stages, which the king repaired and finished. Tradition 
has always associated the place with the “Tower of Babel” 
of Hebrew story. These and many other monuments made 
Babylon one of the most imposing capitals of antiquity. 
Despite all its magnificence, the city in after ages sank into 
decay. Its site, for nearly twenty centuries, has been a 
desolate, dismal spot. 1 

17. The Empire of Persia 

We now find a new and vigorous people pressing into- 
western Asia. They were the Persians, kinsmen of the 
Medes, and like them of Indo-European speech Formation 
(§ 8). The able ruler whom history knows as of the Per- 
Cyrus the Great (553-529 B.c.) united the Per- sian Empire 
sians and the Medes under his sway and then conquered the 
kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor. He also subdued Baby¬ 
lonia. The Hebrew exiles there were now allowed to return 
to their native land. His son, Cambyses, annexed Egypt. 
The successor of Cambyses, Darius I (521-485 B.c.), added 
northwestern India to the Persian dominions, together with 
some territory in Europe. Darius describes himself in an 
inscription, which still survives, as “the great king, king of 
kings, king of countries, king of all men.” 

The Persian Empire extended over an enormous area. Its. 
eastern and western frontiers were nearly three thousand 
miles apart, or considerably more than the distance between 
i See the plate facing this page. 


60 


The Lands of the East 


New York and San Francisco. Its northern and southern 
boundaries were almost as remote. ‘‘ My father’s kingdom, ” 
said a Persian prince, “stretches so 
Extent of f ar to the sou th that men 
the Persian cannot live there because 
Empire 0 f ^ and north¬ 

ward to where they cannot live be¬ 
cause of the cold.” With the ex¬ 
ception of Arabia, which the Persians 
never attempted to conquer, the Near 
East from the Indus to the Danube 
and the Nile yielded allegiance to 
the Great King. 1 

It was the work of Darius I to 
establish a stable government, which 
^ . . should preserve what the 

of the Per- sword had won. The 
sian Empire problem was difficult, for 
the Persians had con¬ 
quered many peoples unlike in race, 
language, customs, and religion. 
'-Darius did not try to weld them 
into unity. As long as his subjects 
paid tribute and furnished soldiers, 
they were allowed to manage their 
affairs with little interference. The 
entire empire, excluding Persia 
proper, was divided into about 
twenty provinces, each with gov¬ 
ernors (satraps) to collect taxes and 
command the provincial armies. 
Darius also provided special agents 
whose business it was to travel throughout the empire and 
investigate the conduct of the royal officials. It became a 
proverb that ‘ ‘ the king has many eyes and many ears. ” Asa 
further means of holding his dominions together, Darius 
1 See the map between pages 42-43. 



Darius I with His 
Attendants 

Bas-relief at Persepolis. The 
monarch’s right hand grasps a 
staff or scepter; his left hand, 
a bunch of flowers. His head 
is surmounted by a crown; his 
body is enveloped in the long 
Median mantle. Above the 
king is a representation of the 
divinity which guarded and 
guided him. In the rear are 
two Persian nobles, one carrying 
the royal fan, the other the 
royal parasol. 








61 


The Empire of Persia 

laid out military roads for the dispatch of troops and sup¬ 
plies. The Royal Road 1 from Susa, the Persian capital, to 
Sardis in Lydia was about sixteen hundred miles long; but 
government couriers, using relays of fresh horses, could 
cover the distance within a week. An old Greek writer 



Rock Sepulchers of the Persian Kings 

The tombs of seven Persian kings are cut in the face of a cliff a few miles from the ruins of 
the royal city of Persepolis. Above the colonnade in each tomb front is a representation of 
the king worshiping the god Ahura Mazda. The tombs still contain the massive stone 
coffins in which Darius I, Xerxes, and their successors were buried. 

declares with admiration that “there is nothing mortal 
more swift than these messengers.” 

The political history of the Near East has now been traced 
from its beginnings to about 500 B.c. We have seen how the 
earliest civilized societies arose in the valleys The Near 
of the Nile and the Tigris-Euphrates; how East under 
empire-building started; and how at length Persian swa y 
nearly all the Near East came together in the widespread 
Persian Empire. Conquest, by forcibly uniting different 
peoples under one government, broke down their isolation 
and so helped to bring about more or less unity of civil¬ 
ization. 


1 See the map, page 55. 





62 


The Lands of the East 


For Explanation 


Brahmans 


Confucius 


Buddha 

Menes 

Cheops 


Hyksos 

Thebes 


Memphis 


Rameses II 
Kamak 


Canaan 

kingdom of Israel 
kingdom of Judah 


Sidon 

Tyre 


Sumerians 

Hammurabi 

Syria 

Aramaeans 


Luxor 


Ten Tribes 

Assyria 

Nineveh 

Sennacherib 

Nebuchadnezzar II 

Medes 

Cyrus the Great 
Cambyses 
Darius I 
Susa 


For Discussion 


1. “Geography is the other eye of history.” What does this statement 
mean? 

2. Show that Asia, geographically, may be divided into the Far East and 
the Near East. Does such a division also hold true historically? 

3. Why was India better known in ancient times than China? 

•4. When did India and China begin to come under the influence of 
Western ideas? 

5. Can you suggest any reason why the sources of the Nile remained 
unknown until late in the nineteenth century? 

6. Comment on the statement: “Egypt as a geographical expression is 
two things — the Desert and the Nile. As a habitable country, it is 
only one thing —- the Nile.” 

7. Why did the Greek traveler, Herodotus, call Egypt the “gift of the 
Nile”? 

8. Why has Babylonia been called the “Asian Egypt”? 

9. Ancient Babylonia contained about 23,000 square miles. With what 
American state would it compare in size? 

10. Distinguish between Syria and Assyria. 

11. Show how the situation of Damascus made it a trading center. 

12. What is the exact meaning of the words Hebrew, Israelite, and Jew? 

13. Why were the Medes and Persians better fitted to conquer and or¬ 
ganize an empire than their predecessors? 


For Further Study 


1. Determine on the map (page 38) what regions of Asia are less than 
500 feet above sea level; less than 3000 feet; less than 9000 feet; over 
9000 feet. 

2. Trace the vegetation belts in the Near East (map, page 55). 


The Empire of Persia 63 

3. Consult an encyclopedia for an account of the Assuan Dam and pre¬ 
pare a report dealing with its influence on agriculture in Egypt. 

4. Read in the Old Testament {Joshua, chaps, xxiii-xxiv) Joshua’s fare¬ 
well address to the Israelites. How does it summarize their early 
history? 

5. Read the “Song of Deborah” {Judges, chap. v). What light does it 
throw upon the culture of the early Hebrews? 

6. Compare the respective areas of the Assyrian and Persian empires 
(map between pages 42-43). 

7. Make a list of the modem countries included within the limits of the 
Persian Empire under Darius I. 

8. Trace the course of the Persian Royal Road, noting the different coun¬ 
tries through which it passed (map, page 55). 

9. List these words and find definitions for them: tribe, city-state, kingdom,, 
empire, and province. 

10. Look up the origin of the names Delta, Pharaoh, and Palestine. 

11. Read the following poems by Byron: Song of Saul before His Last 
Battle; The Destruction of Sennacherib; and Belshazzar's Feast. Upon 
what Old Testament narratives are these poems based? 

Supplementary 

Webster, Readings in Early European History, chapter ii, “The Founders of 
the Persian Empire: Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius.” 

Webster and Webb, Historical Outline Maps and Exercises: Early European 
History, No. I, The River Valley States: Egypt; No. II, Ancient Oriental 
Empires. 



Nebuchadnezzar II 


CHAPTER IV 


LIFE AND THOUGHT IN THE ORIENT 

The most important inventions which characterize the higher culture, 
such as agriculture and the domestication of animals, the plough and the 
wheeled vehicle, irrigation and the construction of canals, the working of 
metals and stone architecture, navigation and sailing ships, writing and the 
calendar, the city-state and the institution of kingship, had been already 
achieved by the fourth millennium, and by the third we find organized 
bureaucratic states, written codes of laws, a highly developed commerce and 
industry, and the beginnings of astronomy and mathematics. 

— Christopher Dawson 

18. Rediscovery of the Orient 

Something had always been known about the Egyptians, 
Babylonians, and neighboring peoples from references in 
The Rosetta Greek and Roman books and in the Old Testa- 
stone (26) ment, but until their own writings were read 
information about them was scanty and inaccurate. The 
rediscovery of the Orient began in Egypt with the interpre¬ 
tation of the hieroglyphs. These strange, fantastic signs, 
which covered the walls of tombs and temples, were long a 
puzzle to all inquirers. The finding of the Rosetta Stone 
in 1799 led to the solution of the puzzle. The monument, 
dating from the first decade of the second century b.c., 
bore a decree in honor of a Greek king, Ptolemy, who at 
that time ruled over Egypt. There were three inscriptions: 
at the top, hieroglyphs; in the middle, a later and simpler 
form of Egyptian writing; and at the bottom, the Greek 
text. 

Scholars in France and England now began the task of 
decipherment. The Greek words were naturally supposed to 
be a translation of the two Egyptian inscriptions. It was 

64 


65 


Rediscovery of the Orient 

soon noticed that, wherever the Greek version contained 
the letters for the name of Ptolemy, there was a correspond¬ 
ing set of signs placed within an oval-shaped Decipher 
ring in the hieroglyphs. By comparing these sign- m ent of the 
groups with the Greek text, it became possible Rosetta in¬ 
to make out a few of the hieroglyphic characters. scnp lon 
The words, when read, were found to resemble Coptic, a 
daughter tongue of the old Egyptian. Since Coptic was 
already familiar to students, it afforded valuable aid in 
translating the entire inscription. The Rosetta Stone then 
gave up its message, and this, once understood, served as a 
key to other inscriptions. The merit for these discoveries 
belongs largely to a Frenchman, Frangois Champollion, 
whose researches were made in the early part of the nine¬ 
teenth century. 

The decipherment of cuneiform writing formed another 
remarkable exploit. The key was found in a long historical 
record which Darius I caused to be carved high The Behistun 
up on the limestone face of the Behistun Rock Rock 
in Persia. The inscription, written in cuneiform characters, 
is in the three principal languages of the king’s subjects, 
namely, Persian, Susian, and Babylonian. It relates how 
he quelled the rebellion of the usurper Gaumata and estab¬ 
lished himself on the throne. A bas-relief above the inscrip¬ 
tion tells the same story in pictures. 

This remarkable document, chiseled in enduring stone, was 
first examined by an English soldier and scholar, Sir Henry 
Rawlinson, who scaled the rock and took a Decipher 
paper cast of the lettering. At the time of his mentofthe 
feat the old Persian language had been partially Behistun in- 
deciphered. By using the proper names in the scnptlon 
Persian columns as a clew, it was possible to translate, first 
the proper names in the other two languages, and finally 
the entire record. The Behistun inscription thus furnished 
a key to the cuneiform writing of the Babylonians. 

Scholars now understood the two chief languages of the 
Near Eastern peoples, but at first there was little to read. 


66 


Life and Thought in the Orient 


Soon, however, discoveries in both Egypt and Babylonia 
brought to light abundant records, including inscriptions 
Preservation anc * paintings on the walls of temples, palaces, 
of the ancient and tombs, the fragile papyrus rolls which 
served as the Egyptian writing material, and 
whole libraries of the Babylonian brick “books” (§ 10). All 
these were in a state of remarkable preservation. 

The early Egyptian kings raised pyramids for their sepul¬ 
chers, while many later rulers hollowed out burial chambers in 
The tombs of the limestone cliffs bordering the Nile Valley. 
Egypt Wealthy persons also built tombs of brick and 

stone, which still cover the desert near Cairo. The walls of 
these structures were decorated with sculptures, paintings, 
and inscriptions. Everything which it was imagined the soul 
would need in the other world — vessels for food and drink, 
furniture, jewelry, the soldier’s weapons, the workman’s tools, 
the toilet articles of the lady, the playthings of the child — 
was placed in the tombs. v Our museums are filled with such 
objects. 

The immense mounds lining the banks of the Tigris and 
Euphrates are the remains of extensive palaces, temples, and 
The mounds °ther public buildings, built usually of sun-dried 
of Babylonia brick, and raised above the marshy plain upon 
and Assyria a \ 0 fty terrace. The buildings were one-storied 
and roofed with huge beams of cedar. These structures and 
the platforms supporting them gradually decayed, and at 
length sank down into ruins. They look now like natural 
hills, for vegetation covers them, and their sides are scarred 
by the rains of many centuries. 

The excavation of these ancient tombs, mounds, and other 
remains in Egypt and Babylonia has gone on with great 
Results of vigor, especially during recent years. Remarka- 
modern ble discoveries have also been made in Palestine, 
discoveries Syria, Asia Minor, and Persia. The knowledge 
thus gained throws new light upon almost every aspect of 
Oriental life and thought. 


Government 


67 


19. Government 

Nothing like democracy existed in Egypt or Babylonia, or 
elsewhere in the Near East. The common people never acted 
as voters or law-makers; they knew only monar- Monarchy 
chical rule. The king, especially in Egypt, was ( 6 ~ 7 ) 
considered to be the earthly representative of the gods. 
Temples were erected to him and offerings were made to his 
sacred majesty. The 
worship of the king as di¬ 
vine led naturally to the 
conclusion that he de¬ 
served the unquestioning 
obedience of his subjects. 

The king was therefore 
what we should call an 
autocrat or despot. He 
was judge, commander, 
and high priest, all in 
one. In time of war he 
led his troops and faced 
the perils of the battle¬ 
field. During intervals of 
peace he held frequent 
audiences with his court¬ 
iers, hearing complaints, settling disputes, and issuing com¬ 
mands. The king was also occupied with a constant round 
of sacrifices, prayers, and processions, which could not be 
neglected without exciting the anger of the gods. 

The monarchs always maintained luxurious courts. The 
splendor of Rameses II, of Solomon, of Nebuchadnezzar II, 
dazzled their contemporaries. Royal magnifi- The royal 
cence reached its height with the Great King court ( 75 ) 
(Emperor) of Persia. He lived far removed from the com¬ 
mon eye in the recesses of a lordly palace. When he gave 
audience to his nobles, he sat on a gold and ivory throne. 
When he traveled, even on military expeditions, he carried 



The diadem consists of a broad band of gold 
with the asp on the forehead and the ends termi¬ 
nating in a representation of the same sacred 
serpent. 




68 


Life and Thought in the Orient 

with him costly furniture, gold and silver dishes, and gor¬ 
geous robes. Hundreds of servants, bodyguards, and officials 
were about him. All who approached his person prostrated 
themselves in the dust. As a Hebrew writer declared, 
“Whatsoever he commandeth them, they do. If he bid 
them make war the one against the other, they do it; if 
he send them out against his enemies, they go, and break 
down mountains, walls, and towers. They slay and are 
slain, and transgress not the king’s commandment.’’ 

The work of empire-building in the Near East was ac¬ 
complished only at a fearful cost. The annals of Egypt, 
Empire-build- Babylonia, Assyria, and Persia, not to speak of 
in g and war- minor countries, are a story of towns and cities 
given to the flames, of the devastation of fertile 
regions, of the slaughter of men, women, and children, 
and of the enslavement of entire populations. Mankind 
by this time had passed from the petty robbery, murder, 
and border feuds characteristic of savagery and barbarism 
to organized warfare, in which state was ranged against 
state and nation against nation. Peace formed the rare 
exception in the Near East. There was no such thing as. 
international law regulating the relations of one community 
to another and no idea of international cooperation for 
human welfare. Each community looked out for itself;, 
each one, if it could, subdued its neighbors and imposed its 
rule upon them. 

20. Social Classes 

Social equality, as we understand it, did not exist in the 
Near East. The kings, the nobles, and the priests absorbed 
A . , most of the wealth, had most of the leisure, en- 

joyed the most privileges, and led the most com¬ 
fortable lives. The aristocracy included large landowners, 
rich merchants and bankers, and especially high government 
officials. 

The middle class included chiefly shopkeepers and pro¬ 
fessional men such as physicians and scribes. Though re- 


Social Classes 69 

garded as inferiors, they or their children had a chance to 
rise in the world. A person who acquired wealth Middle dass 
might nourish the hope of some day becoming a 
priest or even of entering the exalted ranks of the nobility. 

No such hope encouraged the day laborer in the shops or 
fields. His lot was poverty and unending toil. The artisan 
received a wage scarcely sufficient to keep him Artisans and 
and his family from starvation, while the peas- P easants ( 8 ) 
ant, after paying an excessive rent and taxes on his farm, 





7 A mxAw 

If lyff If 7 




XJJU^.LIi-LAJ 



Transport of an Assyrian Colossus 

A slab from a gallery of Sennacherib’s palace at Nineveh. The immense block is 
being pulled forward by slaves, who work under the lash. 


had left only a bare living. He worked under overseers 
who carried sticks and used them freely. “Man has a 
back,” says an Egyptian proverb, “and only obeys when it is 
beaten.” 

The slaves occupied the base of the social pyramid. Every 
ancient people possessed them. At first they Slaves 
were prisoners of war, who, instead of being 
slaughtered, were forced to labor for their masters. Baby- 






































70 


Life and Thought in the Orient 

lonians and Assyrians undertook expeditions for the express 
purpose of gathering slaves—‘ ‘ like the sand,” says an ancient 
writer. Persons unable to pay their debts often lost their 
freedom. A man could even sell his wife and children into 
bondage. Criminals, also, were sometimes compelled to enter 
into vservitude. Slaves had plenty to do. They repaired 
dikes, dug irrigation ditches, erected temples and palaces, 
labored in the mines, served as oarsmen in ships, and en¬ 
gaged in many household activities. 

21. Occupations 

Such fruitful, well-watered valleys as those of the Nile and 
the Euphrates encouraged agricultural life. Wheat, barley, 
Agriculture an d were first domesticated either in 

Egypt or in Babylonia. All the methods of agri¬ 
culture are pictured for us on Egyptian monuments. We 
mark the peasant as he breaks up the earth with a hoe, or 



Plowing and Sowing in Ancient Egypt 

The picture shows from left to right a scribe, two plowmen, one holding the plow 
and one driving the oxen, a man with a hoe, who breaks up the clods left by the 
plow, and a sower scattering seed from a bag. 


plows a shallow furrow with a sharp-pointed stick. We 
see the sheep being driven across sown fields to trample the 
seed into the moist soil. We watch the patient laborers as 
with sickles they gather in the harvest and with heavy flails 
separate the grain from the chaff. Although their methods 
were crude, ancient farmers raised large crops. The soil 
of Egypt and Babylonia not only supported a dense popula- 





Occupations 71 

tion, but also supplied food for neighboring peoples. These 
two lands were the granaries of the Near East. 

Many industries of to-day were known in ancient Egypt 
and Babylonia. Blacksmiths, carpenters, stonecutters, 
weavers, potters, glass blowers, and workers in 

j & 11 r j • -x Industry 

ivory, silver, and gold were found m every city. 

The workmen usually formed guilds, or associations, each 
of which occupied a special street or quarter of the city. 
Those who wished to follow a particular industry were obliged 
to enter the guild and serve as apprentices for a period of 
years. It was sometimes provided that the master should be 
fined if he overworked his apprentice or failed to teach him 
the trade. Such regulations were intended to produce good 
workmen. 

The creations of these ancient craftsmen often exhibit re¬ 
markable skill. Egyptian linens were so wonderfully fine 
and transparent as to merit the name of “woven industrial 
air.” Babylonian tapestries, carpets, and rugs P roducts 
enjoyed a high reputation for beauty of design and color¬ 
ing. Egyptian glass with its waving lines of different hues 
was much prized. Precious stones were made into beads, 
necklaces, charms, and seals. The precious metals were 
employed for a great variety of ornaments. Egyptian 
paintings show the goldsmiths at work with blowpipe and 
forceps, fashioning bracelets, rings, and diadems, inlaying 
objects of stone and wood, or covering their surfaces with 
fine gold leaf. The manufacture of tiles and glazed pottery 
was everywhere carried on. Babylonia is believed to be the 
original home of porcelain. Enameled bricks found there 
are unsurpassed by the best products of the present day. 
Some of the industrial arts thus practiced thousands of 
years ago have been revived only in modern times. 

The development of arts and crafts made it profitable for 
merchants to collect manufactured products where these 
could be readily bought and sold. The cities of Trade 
Babylonia, in particular, became thriving mar¬ 
kets. Partnerships between tradesmen were not uncommon. 


72 


Life and Thought in the Orient 


We even learn of commercial companies not unlike our 
present corporations. Business life in ancient Babylonia 
wore, indeed, quite a modern look. 

Metallic money first circulated in the form of rings and 
bars. The Egyptians had small pieces of gold — “cow gold ” 
— each of which was simplv the value of a full- 
grown cow. It was necessary to weigh the metal 
whenever a purchase took place. The practice arose later of 
stamping each piece of money with its true value and weight. 



Tax Collecting in Ancient Egypt 

On the left three villagers, who have failed to pay their taxes, are being brought in by 
officers. The latter carry staves. On the right sit the scribes, holding in one hand a sheet 
of papyrus and in the other hand a pen. The scribes kept records of the amount owed by 
each taxpayer and issued receipts when the taxes were paid. 


The next step was coinage proper, where the government 
guarantees, not only the weight, but also the genuineness of 
the metal. 

Credit for the invention of coinage is generally given to the 
Lydians (§ 17), whose country was well supplied with the 
coinage precious metals. Croesus, the last king of Lydia, 
was so wealthy that his name is still a synonym 
for riches. The Greek neighbors of the Lydians adopted 
the art of coinage from them and so introduced it into 
Europe. 1 

The use of money as a medium of exchange led naturally to 
Banking a s y stem of banking. One great banking house 
at Babylon carried on operations for several cen¬ 
turies. Hundreds of legal documents belonging to this firm 
1 See the plate facing page 204. 































Commerce and Trade Routes 


73 


have been discovered in the huge earthenware jars which 
served as safes. The temples in Babylonia also received 
money on deposit and loaned it out again as do our modern 
banks. Babylonian business usages and credit devices spread 
through Asia Minor to Greece and thence into other Euro¬ 
pean countries. 

22. Commerce and Trade Routes 

Commerce, which has always been a means of enabling 
different peoples to know and influence one another, was in 
ancient times exposed to many dangers. Wild obstacles to 
tribes and bands of robbers infested the roads commerc ® 
and obliged the traveler and the trader to be ever on guard 
against attack. Travel by water had also its drawbacks. 



An Early Egyptian Ship 

Wall relief sculptured about the middle of the twenty-eighth century b.c. The earliest- 
known representation of a seagoing ship. 

Boats were small and easily swamped in rough weather. 
With a single sail and few oarsmen, progress was very slow. 
Without compass or chart, the navigator seldom ventured 
into the open sea. He hugged the coast as closely as possible, 
keeping always a sharp eye for pirates who might seize his 
vessel and take him into slavery. In spite of all these risks, 
the profits of foreign trade were so great that much inter¬ 
course existed between different countries of the Near East. 

The Egyptians, pioneers in so many fields of human 
activity, are believed to have made the first seagoing ships. 























































































Commerce and Trade Routes 


75 


As early as the thirtieth century b.c. they began to venture 
out into the eastern Mediterranean and to carry on a thriv¬ 
ing trade with both Cyprus and Crete, which lay Egyptian 
almost opposite the mouths of the Nile. The commerce 
ships of the Pharaohs also sailed up and down the entire 
length of the Red Sea. 

The cities of the Tigris-Euphrates Valley were admirably 
situated for commerce by both sea and land. The shortest 
waterway from India skirted the southern coast Babylonian 
of Iran and then, passing up the Persian Gulf, and Assyrian 
gained the valley of the two rivers. There were commerce 
also overland roads for caravan trade from India and China. 
They converged at Babylon and Nineveh and spread west¬ 
ward to Asia Minor, Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine, and Egypt. 
All these routes have been arteries of commerce from pre¬ 
historic times. Many of them are in use even to-day. 1 

A Semitic people, the Phoenicians (§ 15), who occupied a 
narrow stretch of the Syrian coast, were the common carriers 
of the Mediterranean after about 1000 B.c. Phoenician 
Phoenician water routes soon extended to Cy- water routes 
prus, only a short distance away, then to Crete, then to the 
islands of the TEgean, and, at least occasionally, to the 
shores of the Black Sea. When the Phoenicians were finally 
driven from these regions by the rising power of the Greek 
states, they sailed farther,westward and established trading 
posts in Sicily, Sardinia, North Africa, and Spain. They 
also passed through the Strait of Gibraltar into the stormy 
Atlantic and visited the coasts of western Europe and Africa. 

The Phoenicians obtained a great variety of products as a 
result of their commercial voyages. The mines of Spain 
yielded iron, tin, lead, and silver. Tin, which Phoenician 
was especially valuable because of its use in imports and 
making bronze (§4), seems also to have been exports 
brought from southwestern Britain (Cornwall), where mines 
of this metal are still productive. From Africa came ivory, 
ostrich feathers, and gold; from Arabia, which the Phoe- 
1 See the map, page 17. 


76 Life and Thought in the Orient 

nicians also visited, came incense, perfumes, and costly spices. 
These commodities found a ready sale throughout the Near 
East. Still other products were imported directly into 
Phoenicia to provide raw materials for her flourishing manu¬ 
factures. The fine carpets and glassware, the artistic works 
in silver and bronze, and the beautiful purple cloths produced 
in the factories of Tyre and Sidon were exported to every 
part of the known world. 

The Phoenicians kept their voyages as secret as possible. 
No one in antiquity knew the region from which they brought 
Phoenician tin. L was on ty by chance that a Greek ship 
trade discovered Spain, with which the Phoenicians 

monopoly ( 67 ) t rac j ec i f or centuries. Their trade monopoly 
made them for centuries the chief commercial people of the 
Mediterranean, and their ships composed the navies of both 
Babylonia and Persia. “What city is like Tyre?” asks a 
Hebrew writer. “When thy wares went forth out of the 
seas, thou filledst many peoples; thou didst enrich the kings 
of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy 
merchandise.” 

The Phoenicians were the boldest sailors of antiquity. 
Some of their long voyages are still on record. We learn 
Phoenician from the Bible that they made cruises on the 
p?oraSm°(68*" Red Sea an d Indian Ocean and brought the gold 
70) of Arabia — “four hundred and twenty talents” 

— to Solomon. There is even a story of certain Phoe¬ 
nicians who, by direction of an Egyptian king, explored the 
eastern coast of Africa, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, 
and, after three years’ absence, returned to Egypt through 
the Strait of Gibraltar. A much more probable narrative 
tells of the voyage of Hanno, a Carthaginian admiral, who 
about 500 b.c. made an expedition along the coast of north¬ 
western Africa. He seems to have sailed as far as the Gulf 
of Guinea. 1 Among the trophies brought back to Carthage 
were the skins of three huge chimpanzees, which were be¬ 
lieved to be human beings. Hanno’s account of them is the 
1 See the map, page 201. 


77 


Law and Morality 

first notice of the ape in literature. Nearly two thousand 
years passed before Portuguese navigators undertook a simi¬ 
lar voyage to the Dark Continent (§ 200). 

The Phoenicians established settlements wherever they 
went. Most of these were merely trading posts which con¬ 
tained warehouses for the storage of goods. Here Phoenician 
the shy natives came to barter their raw mate- settlements 
rials for the finished products — cloths, tools and weapons, 
wine and oil — which the strangers from the East had 
brought with them. Phoenician settlements sometimes grew 
to be large and flourishing cities. Gades in southern Spain, 
which was the most distant of their colonies, survives to this 
day as Cadiz. Carthage, founded in northern Africa by 
colonists from Tyre, became the commercial mistress of the 
western Mediterranean. Carthaginian history, as we shall 
learn, has many points of contact with that of the Greeks 
and Romans. 


23. Law and Morality 

Human activities in the Near East seem to have gone on in 
orderly fashion much of the time. Except in time of war, life 
was fairly safe, property was reasonably secure, Egyptian law 
and people were protected in their occupations. 

Egypt, we know, had courts of justice, law books (un¬ 
fortunately lost), and definite rules relating to contracts, 
loans, leases, mortgages, partnerships, marriage, and the 
family. The position of woman was remarkably high: she 
had full rights of ownership and inheritance and she could 
engage in business on her own account. Though polygamy 
existed, chiefly among the upper classes, the wife was her 
husband’s companion and not merely his domestic servant. 
The reverence due from children to father and mother 
was constantly insisted upon, and filial piety for the Egyp¬ 
tians ranked among the highest virtues. 

The most enlightening notice of Egyptian moral standards 
is found in a very ancient work known as the Book of the Dead. 
One of the chapters describes the judgment of the soul in 


78 Life and Thought in the Orient 

the other world. If the soul was to enjoy a blissful im¬ 
mortality, it must be able to recite truthfully before its 
Declaration of judges-a Declaration of Innocence. These are 
innocence some of the statements: “I did not steal”; “I 
^ did not murder”; “I did not lie”; “I did not 

kill any sacred animals”; “I did not damage any cultivated 
land”; “I did not do any witchcraft”; “I did not blas¬ 
pheme a god”; “I did not make false accusations”; “I did 
not revile my father”; “I did not cause a slave to be ill- 
treated by his master”; “I did not make any one weep.” 
After pleading innocence of all the forty-two sins condemned 
by Egyptian ethics, the soul added, “Grant that he may 
come unto you ... he that hath given bread to the hungry 
and drink to the thirsty, and that hath clothed the naked 
with garments.” Some of the clauses of the Declaration of 
Innocence correspond with some of the Ten Command¬ 
ments, while the affirmative statement at the end makes a 
close approach to Christian morality. 

The Babylonians were a very legal-minded people. When 
a man sold his wheat, bought a slave, married a wife, or 
Babylonian made a will, the transaction was duly noted on a 
law contract tablet. He then stamped his seal on the 

soft clay of the tablet. Every one who owned property had 

to have a seal. A 
contract tablet was 
protected from de¬ 
facement by being 
placed in a hollow 
clay case, or enve¬ 
lope. 

A recent discov¬ 
ery has provided us 
with almost the complete text of the laws which Ham¬ 
murabi, the Babylonian king (§ 14), ordered to be engraved 
Code of Ham- on stone monuments and set up in the chief 
murabi (38) cities of his realm. Hammurabi's code shows, in 
general, a keen sense of justice. A man who tries to bribe a 















Law and Morality 


79 


witness or a judge is to be severely punished. A farmer who 
is careless with his dikes and allows the water to run through 
and flood his neighbor’s land must restore the value of the 
grain he has damaged. The 
owner of a vicious ox which has 
gored a man must pay a heavy 
fine, provided he knew the dis¬ 
position of the animal and had 
not blunted its horns. A builder 
who puts up a shaky house 
which afterward collapses and 
kills the tenant is himself to be 
put to death. On the other 
hand, the code contains some 
rude features, especially its re¬ 
liance upon retaliation — “eye 
for eye, tooth for tooth” — as 
the punishment of injuries. For 
instance, a son who had struck 
his father was to have his hands 
cut off. The nature of the pun¬ 
ishment depended, moreover, on 
the rank of the aggrieved party. 

A person who had caused the 
loss of a “gentleman’s” eye was 
to have his own plucked out; 
but if the injury was done to a 
poor man, the culprit had only 
to pay a fine. The code, as a 
whole, affords a remarkable pic¬ 
ture of civilized society in an¬ 
cient Babylonia more than four thousand years ago. 

The laws which we find in the earlier books of the Old 
Testament were ascribed by the Hebrews to Moses. The 
Bible states that he had received them from The Mosaic 
Jehovah on Mount Sinai, when the children of code ( 80 ~ 81 ) 
Israel were in the “Wilderness” (§ 15). They fixed all 



Hammurabi and the Sun God 

Louvre, Paris 

A shaft of stone, nearly eight feet 
high, contains the code of Hammurabi. 
The monument was found on the site of 
Susa in 1901—1902. It is engraved in 
forty-four columns and over 3600 lines. 
A relief at the top shows the Babylonian 
king receiving the laws from the sun god 
Shamash, who is seated on a throne at 
the right. Flames rising from the god’s 
shoulders indicate his solar character. 
Hammurabi wears a long robe, with the 
right arm and shoulder bare. His upper 
lip is clean-shaven. 










80 


Life and Thought in the Orient 

religious ceremonies, required the observance every seventh 
day of the Sabbath, dealt with marriage and the family, 
determined the penalty of crimes, gave elaborate rules 
for sacrifices, and even indicated what foods must be avoided 
as “unclean.” The Jews, throughout the world, still obey 
many of these laws. Modern Christendom still recites the Ten 
Commandments, the noblest summary of the rules of right 
living that has come down to us from Oriental antiquity. 

24. Religion 

The worship of nature, so common among savage and bar¬ 
barous peoples, survived in Egypt and Babylonia. The 
Nature vault of heaven, earth and ocean, sun, moon, 
worship and stars were all regarded either as themselves 
divine or as the abode of divinities. The sun was an object 
of especial adoration. We find a sun god, under different 
names, throughout the Near East. 

The Egyptians, very conservative in religious matters, 
always kept the animal worship that had come down to 

Egyptian them fr0m 

animal prehistoric 

worship (20) g ome 

gods were represented on 
monuments in partly an¬ 
imal form, one having a 
baboon’s head, another 
the head of a lioness, and 
another that of a cat. 
Such animals as the j ackal, 
ram, hawk, and crocodile 
also enjoyed the utmost 
reverence, less for them¬ 
selves, however, than as symbols of different gods. Still 
other animals received worship because deities were supposed 
to dwell in them. At Memphis the priests declared that a 
god inhabited a bull called Apis, which could be distin- 



!^An Egyptian Scarab 

The beetle, as a symbol of birth and resur¬ 
rection, and hence of immortality, enjoyed much 
reverence in ancient Egypt. A scarab, or image 
of the beetle, was often worn as a charm and was 
placed in the mummy as an artificial heart. 








Religion 81 

guished by a black skin, a white spot on the forehead, and 
by other markings. The Apis bull was naturally held in 
high honor and was embalmed after death. Extensive cem¬ 
eteries of mummified animals have been found in Egypt. 

A belief in the existence of evil spirits formed a prominent 
feature of Babylonian religion. People supposed themselves 
to be constantly surrounded Babylonian 
by a host of demons, who belief in evil 
caused insanity, sickness, dis- spints ( 51 “ 52 ) 
ease, and death — all human ills. They 
were given such names as “pestilence,” 

“storm,” the “destroyer,” the “seizer”; 
and they were often represented under 
the terrifying shapes of dragons and ser¬ 
pents. People lived in constant fear of 
offending such spiritual enemies. 

To cope with them the Babylonian used 
magic. He put up a small image of a pro¬ 
tecting god at the entrance to Mag . c 
his house and wore charms 
upon his person. If he felt ill, he went to 
a priest, who recited a long incantation 
supposed to drive out the “devil” afflict¬ 
ing the patient. Some of these magical 
rites were borrowed by the Jews, and later 
by the Romans, from whom they entered Christian Europe. 
The popular superstitions of the Middle Ages regarding de¬ 
mons, witchcraft, and the Devil go back, in part, to old 
Babylonia (§ 190). 

The Babylonians also had many methods of predicting the 
future. Soothsayers divined from dreams and from the cast¬ 
ing of lots. Omens of prosperity or misfortune Divination 
were drawn from the appearance of the entrails ( 49 > 
of animals slain in sacrifice. A sheep’s liver was commonly 
used for this purpose. Divination by the liver was studied 
for centuries in the temple schools of Babylonia. The 
practice afterward spread to the Greeks and Romans. 



A Demon 


A bronze, animal¬ 
headed figure, now in 
the British Museum, 
London. 



82 


Life and Thought in the Orient 

Astrology received much attention in Babylonia. The 
five planets then recognized, as well as comets and eclipses, 
, . were thought to exercise an influence for good or 
s ro ogy i. ; ev ji on the life of man. Babylonian astrology 
passed to Western lands and became popular in much of 
Europe. Some of it survives to the present time. When we 
name the days Saturday, Sunday, 
and Monday, we are unconscious 
astrologers, for in old belief the first 
day belonged to the planet Saturn, 
the second to the sun, and the third 
to the moon. Similarly, a “ mar¬ 
tial,’’ “jovial,” or “lunatic” char¬ 
acter was thought to be caused by 
heavenly influences, by Mars, Ju¬ 
piter (Jove), or the moon (Luna). 
Superstitious people who try to read 
their fate in the stars are really 
practicing an art of Babylonian in¬ 
vention. 

Some Egyptian thinkers reached 
in time the idea of a single supreme 
deity — the idea of monotheism. One of the Pharaohs, 
Amenhotep IV, who lived during the fourteenth century B. c., 
Monotheism even tried to impose this belief upon his sub¬ 
in Egypt (23) jects. He sought to sweep away all the old 
gods at a stroke and to replace them by a single god, Aton, 
the “great, living disk of the sun, beside whom there is none 
other.” The king ordered that the names of other deities 
should be erased from the monuments and that their images 
should be destroyed. He built a new city, Akhetaton (“Ho¬ 
rizon of Aton”), to replace Thebes as the capital, and him¬ 
self took the name of Ikhnaton, which means “ Aton’s man.” 
In the sun he saw the source of all life upon the earth, and 
so he caused its rays to be represented each with a hand 
holding out the sign of life to the world. As far as we are 
aware, no such lofty faith had ever appeared before; but it 



Amenhotep IV (Ikhnaton) 

New Museum, Berlin 

A bust carved in limestone. The 
head originally wore a crown. 


Religion 83 

was too abstract and impersonal to win popular acceptance. 
The old deities were restored to honor after the king’s death. 

The Persians adopted the monotheistic teachings of Zoro¬ 
aster, a great prophet whose date is variously placed be¬ 
tween 1000 and 700 b.c. Zoroaster taught that Monotheism 
Ahura Mazda, the heaven-deity, is the maker in Persia 
and upholder of the universe. He is a god of (77 ^ 
light and order, of truth and purity. Against him and his 
attendant spirits stand the forces 
of darkness and sin, headed by 
Ahriman, the personification of all 
wickedness. These rival powers 
are engaged in a ceaseless struggle. 

Man, by doing right and avoiding 
wrong, by loving truth and hating 
falsehood, can help to make Good 
triumph over Evil. Ahura Mazda 
in the end will overcome Ahriman 
and will reign supreme over a 
righteous world. Zoroastrianism 
thus marked a real advance toward 
a pure morality and the belief in 
one god. It still survives in some 
parts of Persia (though that coun¬ 
try is now chiefly Mohammedan), 
as well as among the Parsees 
(Persians) of Bombay, India. 

The Hebrews also developed a monotheistic religion. The 
Old Testament shows how it came about. Jehovah was at 
first regarded as the peculiar divinity of the Early Hebrew 
Hebrew people. His worshipers did not deny monotheism 
the existence of the gods of other nations. They thought of 
him, however, as a “jealous” god, who would not allow his 
people to pay homage or offer sacrifice to any strange deity. 
The First Commandment, for instance, requires that the 
Hebrews shall have no other gods “before Me” or “beside 
Me.” 



Zoroaster 

An idealized portrait from a 
sculpture supposed to represent the 
Persian prophet. 



84 


Life and Thought in the Orient 

This narrow, limited conception was gradually transformed 
by the teachings of Isaiah and other Hebrew prophets. Jeho- 
The prophets vah, for them, was the God of the whole earth 
( 84 ) and the loving Father of mankind. In place of 

sacrifices and burnt offerings, the prophets set simple right¬ 
eousness. “What doth the Lord require of thee,” says one 
of them, “but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk 
humbly with thy God?” 

The prophetic teachings at first were firmly held by only a 
few persons among the Hebrews. The common people 
Later Hebrew tended constantly to fall away into the super¬ 
monotheism stition and idolatry of their neighbors. Then 
came the Assyrian and Babylonian conquests, in which faith- 





The Judgment of the Dead 


From a papyrus containing the Book of the Dead. The illustration shows a man 
and his wife (at the left) entering the hall in the spirit world, where sits Osiris, the 
god of the dead, with forty-two jurors (seen above) as his assistants. The heart of 
the man, symbolized by a jar, is being weighed in balances by a jackal-headed god 
against a feather, symbol of truth. The monster in the right-hand corner stands 
ready to devour the soul, if the heart is found lighter than the feather. 

ful Hebrews saw a punishment sent by Jehovah for their sins. 
Those who returned to Palestine after the captivity in Baby¬ 
lon (§ 17) were now ready to worship one God and Him 
only. The noble faith of the prophets gradually spread 
through the entire nation, finding its highest expression in 
the doctrine of Jesus that God is a Spirit and that they 
who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. 


























Literature 85 

The Christian doctrine of God is thus directly an outgrowth 
of Hebrew monotheism. 

The Egyptians, like their neighbors, believed that man has 
a soul which survives the death of the body. They thought 
it essential, however, to preserve the body from The future 
destruction, so that it might remain to the end life ( 16 , 57 , 82 ) 
of time a home for the soul. Hence arose the practice of 
embalming. The embalmed body (mummy) was then placed 
in the grave, which the Egyptians called an “eternal dwell¬ 
ing/' Later Egyptian thought represented the other world 
as a place of rewards and punishments, where the soul under¬ 
went the ordeal of a last judgment. As a man had lived in 
the earthly life, so would be his lot in the future life. The 
Babylonians supposed that after death the souls of all men, 
good and bad alike, passed a cheerless existence in a gloomy 
underworld. The early Hebrew idea of Sheol, “the land of 
darkness and the shadow of death,” was very similar. Such 
thoughts of the future life left nothing for either fear or hope. 
Many Hebrews later came to believe in the resurrection of the 
dead and the last judgment. These conceptions were taken 
over by Christianity. 

25. Literature 

Religion inspired the largest part of the literature produced 
in the Near East. The Egyptian Book of the Dead was al¬ 
ready ancient in 2000 b.c. It was a collection of “Book of the 
hymns, prayers, and magical phrases to be re- Dead ” 
cited by the soul on its journey beyond the grave and in the 
spirit land. A chapter from this work usually covered the 
inner side of the mummy case, or coffin. 

The two Babylonian epics are more interesting. The 
clay tablets which contain them were disinterred from the 
ruins of a royal library at Nineveh. The tab- The Babyio- 
lets are Assyrian copies of Babylonian originals nian epics 
dating back at least twenty centuries before Christ. 

The epic of the Creation tells how the god Marduk over¬ 
came a terrible dragon, the symbol of primeval chaos, and 


86 Life and Thought in the Orient 

thus established order in the universe. With half of the body 
of the dead dragon he made a covering (firmament) for 
story of the the celestial heaven, and above the heaven he 
Creation (54) se t the stars. He then caused the new moon to 
shine and made it the ruler of the night. His last work 
was the creation of man, in order that the service and worship 
of the gods might be established forever. 

The second epic deals with the exploits of a hero called 
Gilgamesh. It contains an account of a flood, sent by the 
The Flood gods to punish sinful men. The rain fell for six 
legend (55) days and nights and covered the entire earth. 
All people were drowned except the Babylonian Noah, his 
family, and his relatives, who safely rode the waters in an 
ark. This ancient narrative closely resembles the Bible 
story in Genesis. 

The sacred scriptures of the Hebrews, which we call the 
Old Testament, were the product of many authors whose 
The oid writings extend over a long period of time. The 
Testament Old Testament includes nearly every kind of 
literature and makes up a library in itself. Sober histories, 
beautiful stories, exquisite poems, wise proverbs, noble 
prophecies are all found in this collection. Its influence 
upon the Hebrews, and through them upon the Christian 
world for nineteen centuries, has been profound. We shall 
not be wrong in regarding this work as the most important 
single contribution made by any ancient people to modern 
civilization. 

26. The Fine Arts 

The art of stone masonry arose in Egypt earlier than any¬ 
where else in the world. The Egyptians were the first people 
Egyptian who learned how to raise buildings with vast 
architecture halls, the roofs of which were supported by rows 
of columns (colonnades). An upper story, or clerestory, 
containing windows, made it possible to light the interior 
of these halls. 1 The column, the colonnade, and the clere- 
1 See the illustration, page 47. 


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III, with the ruins of sacml chambers and sanctuaries in the rear. 





















The Fine Arts 


87 


story, as architectural devices, were adopted by Greek and 
Roman builders, from whom they descended to medieval 
and modern Europe. The wealth and skill of the Egyptians 
were not lavished in the erection of fine private mansions 
or splendid public buildings. Their chief works were temples 
for the gods and tombs for the kings. These structures, 
even in ruins, leave on the observer an impression of peculiar 
massiveness, solidity, and grandeur. They seem to be built 
for eternity. As an old writer once said, “All the world 
fears Time, but Time fears the 
Pyramids.” 

The architecture of theTigris- 
Euphrates peoples differed en- 
tirely from that of Babylonian 

the Egyptians, be- and Assyrian 
cause brick, and not architecture 
stone, formed the chief building 
material. The round arch and 
vault, as a means of carrying a 
wall or a roof over a void, are 
easier to build in brick than in 
stone, and the Babylonians and 
Assyrians made much use of 
these architectural devices. In 
Babylonia the most character¬ 
istic structure was the temple. 

It was a square, solid tower, 
built on a broad platform of sun-dried bricks, and rising 
in receding stages (usually seven) to the top, where the 
shrine of the deity was placed. The different stages were con¬ 
nected by a winding ascent. The tower-temples must have 
been very conspicuous objects in the flat “land of Shinar.” 
In Assyria the characteristic structure was the palace. The 
sun-dried bricks, of which both temples and palaces were 
composed, lacked the durability of stone and have long since 
dissolved into shapeless mounds. 

The surviving examples of Egyptian sculpture consist of 



Egyptian Capitals 

The two typical forms are shown — 
the spreading capital (left) and the 
closed capital (right). These forms 
were associated with the lotus flower 
and the lotus bud, respectively. 





88 


Life and Thought in the Orient 



The royal residence of Sargon II near Nineveh was placed upon a high platform of brick 
masonry, the top of which was gained by stairs and an inclined roadway. The palace con¬ 
sisted of a series of one-storied rectangular halls and long corridors surrounding inner courts. 
They were provided with imposing entrances, flanked by colossal human-headed bulls, rep¬ 
resenting guardian spirits. The entire building covered more than twenty-three acres and. 
contained two hundred apartments. In the rear is seen a tower-temple. 

bas-reliefs and figures in the round, carved from limestone 

and granite or cast in bronze. 

Sculpture Th ° U g h ° f the 

statues appear to our 
eyes very stiff and ungraceful, 
others are wonderfully lifelike and 
beautiful. Few examples of Baby¬ 
lonian and Assyrian statues have 
survived, but those we have seem 
rigid and out of proportion. The 
Assyrian bas-reliefs show a higher 
development of the artistic sense, 
especially in the representation of 
animals. 

Painting in the Near East had 
solely a decorative character. 
Statues and bas-reliefs were often 
brightly colored, and the walls of 



The Blind Harper 


Leyden Museum 
From an Egyptian tomb. The 
modeling of the head of the blind 
harper is extraordinarily good. 









Science and Education 


89 


temples and tombs were covered with animated pictures. 
The artist showed little knowledge of perspective and drew 
all his figures in profile without any distinction 
of light and shade. Easel work seems to have am ms 
been unknown. The pictorial art was therefore the least 
developed of the fine arts. 


27. Science and Education 


Mathematics 


Conspicuous advance took place in the exact sciences. A 
very old Egyptian manuscript contains arithmetical problems 
with fractions as well as whole numbers, and 
geometrical formulas for computing the capac¬ 
ity of storehouses and the area of fields. A Babylonian table 
gives squares and cubes correctly calculated from 1 to 60. 
The number 12 was the basis of all Babylonian reckonings. 
Our division of the circle into degrees, minutes, and seconds 
(360°, 60', 60") is derived from this duodecimal system. 

The cloudless skies and still, warm nights of the great 
river valleys early led to astronomical research. The Egyp¬ 
tians by 4000 b.c. had given up reckoning time Astronomy 
by lunar months (the interval between two new 
moons) and had formed a solar calendar consisting of twelve 
thirty-day months, with five extra days at the end of the 
year. This calendar was taken over by the Romans, who 
added the system of leap years, and from the Romans it 
has come down to us. The Babylonians made noteworthy 
progress in some branches of astronomy. They were able 
to trace the course of the sun through the twelve constella¬ 
tions of the zodiac, to distinguish five of the planets from the 
fixed stars, and to predict eclipses of the sun and the moon. 
Such discoveries must have required patient and accurate 
study of the heavens. 

Geographical ideas for a long time were very crude. An 
ancient map, scratched on clay, indicates that Geography 
about eight centuries before Christ the Baby¬ 
lonians had gained some knowledge, not only of their own 


90 


Life and Thought in the Orient 

land, but also of distant regions north and south of it. The 
chief increase in man’s knowledge of the world was due to 
the Phoenicians (§ 22). 

The skill of these ancient peoples as mechanics and engi¬ 
neers is shown by their success as builders. The great 

Engineering py ram ids exactly face the points of the compass, 
ngmeermg p r i nc ipi e 0 f the round arch was known in 

Babylonia at a remote period. The transportation of colossal 
stone monuments exhibits a knowledge of the lever, pulley, 
and inclined plane. 1 

The Oriental peoples made some progress in medicine. 
Several Egyptian medical works are known; one of them, 
Medicine dating in its present form from the seventeenth 
( - 53 ) century b.c., may claim to be the oldest scien¬ 

tific book in the world. Various diseases were noted, their 
symptoms described, and their proper treatment indicated. 
The curious signs by which druggists indicate grains and 
drams are of Egyptian origin. There were physicians and 
surgeons in Babylonia as early as the time of Hammurabi. 
The healing art, however, was always much mixed up with 
magic, just as astronomy, the scientific study of the heavens, 
was confused with astrology. 

The schools, in both Egypt and Babylonia, were attached 
to the temples and were conducted by the priests. Writing 
The temple was the chief subject of instruction. It took 
school many years of patient study to master the cum¬ 

brous cuneiform symbols or the even more difficult hiero¬ 
glyphs. “He who would excel in the school of the scribes,” 
ran an ancient maxim, “must rise with the dawn.” Writing 
was learned by imitating the examples supplied in copy¬ 
books. Some of the model letters studied by Egyptian boys 
of the twentieth century b.c. have come down to us. Read¬ 
ing, too, was an art not easy to learn. Dictionaries and 
grammars were written to aid the beginner. A little in¬ 
struction was sometimes provided in counting and calcu¬ 
lating. 


1 See the illustration, page 69. 


Science and Education 


91 


A pupil who had learned to read and write might become a 
scribe, or professional copyist. In a community where nearly 
every one was illiterate, the scribes naturally Scribes 
held an honorable place. They conducted the 
correspondence of the time. When a man wished to send a 
letter, he had a scribe write it, signing it himself by affixing 
his seal. When he received a letter, he usually employed a 
scribe to read it to him. The 
scribes also copied books on 
the papyrus paper or clay tab¬ 
lets which served as writing 
materials. 

The Egyptians, the Baby¬ 
lonians, and the Assyrians pos¬ 
sessed libraries, T . t . 

„ .. Libraries 

usually as adj uncts 
to the temples and hence un¬ 
der priestly control. Several 
of the larger libraries have 
been discovered. One of them, 
in the ruins of a royal palace 
at Nineveh, contained no less 
than thirty thousand clay tab¬ 
lets. These are now in the 
British Museum. 

Schools and libraries were 
not freely open to the public. 

As a rule, only the well-to-do 
could secure any learning. The common people remained 
grossly ignorant. Their ignorance involved their intellectual 
bondage to the past; they were slow to abandon Popular 
time-honored superstitions and reluctant to ^ov^nce 
adopt new customs even when better than the old. Conse¬ 
quently, civilization in this part of the world tended to be¬ 
come fixed and unchanging. It reached a certain level, but 
could not pass above that level. The next steps in human 
progress were to be taken in Europe. 



A Scribe 

Louvre, Paris 


A very ancient portrait statue. It 
represents a scribe sitting in the attitude 
common among Oriental peoples. His 
right hand holds a reed pen and his left 
hand an open papyrus roll. He seems to 
be taking dictation or making an in¬ 
ventory. 


92 


Life and Thought in the Orient 

» 

28. Orient and Occident 

Our study of the Near East in antiquity has been confined 
chiefly to the Nile and Tigris-Euphrates valleys. The Egyp- 
Origin of tians and the Babylonians originated civilization 
civilization during the thousand years between 4000 and 
3000 b.c., while all the rest of the world continued in either 
Neolithic barbarism or Palaeolithic savagery. In Egypt and 
Babylonia men first developed out of the tribal condition 
and began to form cities, states, kingdoms, and empires; 
here they first passed from hunting, fishing, and herding 
to the cultivation of the soil, manufacturing, and commerce; 
here first arose metallurgy, architecture, sound writing, 
mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and many other arts 
and sciences indispensable to the higher life of mankind. 

After 3000 B.c. civilization began to be diffused from its 
Egypto-Babylonian centers. Conquest, trade, and travel 
Diffusion of during the next twenty-five centuries led to in- 
civiiization creasing contact of peoples. By 500 B.c. the best 
of what the Egyptians and Babylonians had thought and 
done became the common possession of their neighbors in 
the Near East. 

Civilization was transmitted from the Near East to the 
West. The Cretans, about whom we shall soon learn (§ 32), 
Transmission carried the products and practical arts of both 
of civilization Egypt and Babylonia to the islands of the Aegean 
and the Greek mainland, and even farther west to southern 
Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia. They were followed by the Phoe¬ 
nicians (§ 22), whose influence, as we have already learned, 
was felt in every country washed by the Mediterranean. 
Cretans and Phoenicians made use of water routes between 
the Near East and the West. Other transmitting peoples 
used the land routes through Asia Minor. This peninsula, 
by its position, seems to belong almost as much to Europe as 
to Asia. It has always been a natural link between the two 
continents. 


Orient and Occident 


93 


For Explanation 


Rosetta Stone 
Coptic 

Behistun Rock 

Pharaoh 

Great King 

Croesus 

Hanno 

Gades 

Code of Hammurabi 
Declaration of Innocence 


Ahura Mazda 
Ahriman. 


Mosaic laws 
Apis 


Ikhnaton 

Zoroaster 


monotheism 


Marduk 

divination 

astrology 


zodiac 

•scribe 


Book of the Dead 
Gilgamesh 
clerestory, 
obelisk 
bas-relief 


Isaiah 

Sheol 


Jehovah 


For Discussion 


1. Show that the Oriental belief in the divinity of kings led to the con¬ 
clusion that they reigned by “divine right.” 

2. Why did the presence of numerous slaves in Egypt and Babylonia 
tend to depress the wages of free workmen? 

3. Name some objects which, in place of the metals, have sometimes 
been used as money. 

4. Interest in Babylonia was usually at the rate of twenty per cent a year. 
Why is it so much lower to-day? 

5. The Phoenicians have been called “the English of antiquity.” Can 
you give any reason for this characterization? 

6. Why should the Phoenicians have been called the “colossal peddlers” 
of the ancient world? 

7. Are the old Hebrew laws (the Mosaic code) still binding on modern 
Jews? 

8. What are the chief prohibitions enumerated in the Ten Command¬ 
ments? 

9. Compare the Ten Commandments with the Egyptian Declaration of 
Innocence. 

10. What reasons can you suggest for the widespread worship of the sun? 

11. Why have the Hebrews been called the “People of the Book”? 

12. “ The Egyptians built for the gods and the dead.” Explain this state¬ 
ment. 

13. From what Oriental peoples do we get the oldest true arch? the first 
coined money? the earliest legal code? the most ancient book? 

14. Why were the inventions and discoveries of the Egyptians and Baby¬ 
lonians of such great importance for the development of civilization? 

15. What seem to you to have been the chief contributions to civilization 
of the Phoenicians, the Hebrews, and the Persians? 

16. Mention some of the defects and limitations of ancient society in the 
Near East. 


94 


Life and Thought in the Orient 

For Further Study 

1. Suppose that you are a Nubian chieftain traveling down the Nile and 
carrying tribute to the Pharaoh at Thebes. Describe your journey 
and your reception at court. 

2. Indicate the principal trade routes of the ancient Orient and the cities 
on these routes (map between pages 42-43). 

3. Write an imaginary account of a Phoenician trading voyage from the 
Red Sea south, giving names of products exchanged. 

4. Trace the Phoenician water routes in the Mediterranean (map, page 74). 

5. Read in the Old Testament (Leviticus, chap, xx) the summary of the 
Hebrew moral law. Compare this summary with the Ten Command¬ 
ments. 

6. Select from the illustrations in this and the preceding chapter some 
examples of bas-reliefs. 

7. Hold a dialogue between two students representing ancient scribes 
from Thebes and Babylon. Discuss city life in these two capitals. 

8. Explain these current expressions: “lucky star”; “silent as a sphinx 

a “Chinese wall”; a “land flowing with milk and honey”; “as rich 
as Croesus.” 

Supplementary 

Webster, Readings in Early European History, chapter i, “Three Oriental 
Peoples as Described by Herodotus.” 



Head of the “ Sheik-el- 
Beled ” 

Egyptian Museum, Cairo 


A portrait statue of wood, 
found in a tomb at Sakkara, 
near Cairo. The subject was a 
personage of some importance 
in the time of the pyramid kings. 


Part III 


CLASSICAL CIVILIZATION: 


GREECE 


(Chapters V-VIII) 


The civilization of the Greeks and Romans is called “classical,” 
a word which is derived from the Latin and has a general refer¬ 
ence to anything of the first rank or of supreme excellence. The 
Greek element in this civilization came first, for the Greeks on 
their islands and peninsulas had closer relations with the Orient 
than the Romans and other peoples of Italy. Chapter V describes 
the geographical background of Greek society and brings the nar¬ 
rative to the close of the sixth century before Christ. By 500 b.c. 
the Greeks had developed their most characteristic institutions 
and had begun to spread them, by commerce and colonization, 
all around the Mediterranean. 

Chapter VI covers less than one hundred and fifty years, but 
these were the most famous years in Greek history. The period 
opened with the Persian wars, when Athens, Sparta, and some of 
the lesser city-states combined in a successful effort to thrust 
back the foreign invader and to save Europe from domination by 
Asia. The Persian wars are memorable in the annals of human 
freedom. Athens now became for a time the largest and richest 
and noblest city in the Greek world. Though her political great¬ 
ness soon passed away, she long continued to be the center of the 
intellectual and artistic life of Greece. After Athens, first Sparta 
and then Thebes secured the leading place among Greek city-states, 
but at length all of them had to bow the knee to an outside power — 
the power of Macedonia. 

Chapter VII tells how the able king of Macedonia, Philip II, 
by craft and force of arms extended his rule over the disunited 
city-states of Greece and how that king’s still abler son, Alexander 
the Great, led both Macedonians and Greeks to the conquest of 
the Persian Empire. Alexander’s sweeping victories opened up 
much of the ancient Orient to the Greeks, and under his successors 
there was a fusion of Greek culture and Oriental culture, a mingling 
of East and West, which went on without interruption until the 
era of Roman expansion throughout the Mediterranean. 

Finally Chapter VIII gives an account of the private and social 
life of the Greeks and sets forth at length their great achieve¬ 
ments in literature, philosophy, science, and the fine arts. Herein 
lies “the glory that was Greece.” 



CHAPTER V 


THE LANDS OF THE WEST AND THE RISE 
OF GREECE 

Hellenic genius never permitted the Greeks to remain merely passive 
recipients of culture from without. Building on foundations largely 
Oriental, they erected a splendid structure of civilization which nobly 
expressed their marvelous gifts and brought them an unchallenged su- 

P remac y- -J. H. Breasted 

Greece was far from insensible to the glamour of the older civilizations 
of the Asiatic and African continents. What it did borrow, Greece, instinct 
as it was with individuality, assimilated, elaborated, and brought to per¬ 
fection; but the Greek mind was not enslaved by this Oriental influence. 

— G. H. Jones 


29. Physical Europe 

History, which begins in the East, for the last twenty-five 
centuries has centered in the West, that is, in Europe. 
Modern industry and commerce, modern sys- Europe in 
terns of government, modern art, literature, and histof y 
science are very much the creation, during this long period, 
of European peoples. Within the last four hundred years, 
especially, they have occupied and populated America and 
Australia and have brought under their control the largest 
part of Asia, nearly the whole of Africa, and the islands of 
all the seas. They have introduced into these remote regions 
their languages, laws, customs, and religions, until to-day the 
greater part of the world is subject to European influence. 

Yet Europe ranks as the smallest, except Australia, of the 
six continents. Geographically, it is not a conti- Area of 
nent but a peninsula of Asia. The boundary Eur °P e 
between the two land masses is therefore not well defined. 

97 



16 

000 

14 

o 

o 

o 

12 

o 

o 

o 

10 

000 

8 

000 

6 

000 

4 

000 

2 

000 


0 


Mt. Blanc 

15.780 


Alps 


Galdhopiggen 

£\ 8.400 


The Great 
Lowland Plain 


ARCTIC 

OCEAN 


Mt. Elbruz 

18,476 

Caucasus 

Section along 
Line A-B. 

1 0° Meridian 

MEDITERRANEAN 
SEA 










































99 


Physical Europe 

Map-makers usually place it at the Ural Mountains, the 
Caspian Sea, and the Caucasus. Estimates of the total area 
of Europe vary from about 3,600,000 square miles to about 
4,100,000 square miles. On the basis of the lower figure 
mentioned, Europe has considerably less than half the area 
of either North America or South America, less than one- 
third that of Africa, and little more than one-fifth that of 
Asia. It includes not quite seven per cent of the land surface 
of the globe. 

The geographical advantages enjoyed by Europe account, 
in part, for its historic importance. The sea penetrates 
deeply into the continent, forming numerous Fea tures of 
bays and harbors and giving to it a longer coast European 
line than Africa and South America combined. s e °s ra P h y 
Again, Europe is well supplied with rivers, which are naviga¬ 
ble for long distances. Another feature of European geogra¬ 
phy is the great extent of lowlands. Furthermore, the 
mountains of Europe are well provided with passes, thus 
affording convenient routes of communication from one 
country to another. 

Nearly all Europe lies in the northern half of the North 
Temperate Zone; that is, within those latitudes most con¬ 
ducive to the development of a high civilization, climatic 
The climate is moderated by the Gulf Stream Eur °P e 
drift, which reaches the British Isles and Scandinavia. Cli¬ 
matic conditions are made still more favorable by the circum¬ 
stance that Europe lies open to the west, with great inland 
seas penetrating deeply from the Atlantic, and with the 
higher mountain ranges extending nearly east and west. 
The westerly winds, warmed in passing over the Gulf Stream 
drift, can thus spread far into the interior, bringing with 
them an abundant rainfall, except in such regions as southern 
Spain, Italy, Greece, and eastern Russia. Europe, in conse¬ 
quence, is the only continent without extensive deserts. 

The Pyrenees, Alps, and Balkans, stretching across Europe 
from the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea, have formed 
an historical dividing line, as well as a geographical barrier. 


100 The Lands of the West and the Rise of Greece 


Twenty-five centuries ago, Europe beyond these mountains 
Northern and was occupied by still barbarous peoples of Indo- 
southem European speech (§8). These were the Celts, 

Europe the Teutons or Germans, and the Slavs. We 

hear little of them in ancient times, except as their occa- 



The Alpine Barrier 

The map shows the principal passes of the Alps from west to east, viz.: Mt. Cenis, Little 
St. Bernard, Great St. Bernard, Simplon, St. Gothard, Spliigen, and Brenner, with the 
modern roads through them. The highest mountains, with their elevations, are also shown. 

sional migrations southward brought them into contact 
with the civilized Graeco-Latin peoples on the shores of the 
Mediterranean. 


30. The Mediterranean Basin 


The Mediterranean, about twenty-two hundred miles in 
length and five hundred to six hundred miles 
in greatest breadth, is the most extensive inland 
sea in the world. It washes the shores of three 
continents — Europe, Asia, and Africa. Never¬ 
theless, its basin is relatively isolated, being confined within 


Character¬ 
istics of the 
Mediterra¬ 
nean basin 






The Mediterranean Basin 


101 


a mountain wall on the north and an almost impassable 
desert on the south. The climate of the basin falls halfway 
between tropical conditions and the temperate conditions 
of central and northern Europe. The sea exercises a moder¬ 
ating influence, however, raising the temperature in the 
rainy season (winter) and lowering it in the dry season 
(summer). The rainfall is, on the whole, scanty, with the 
result that the most important trees are the vine and the 



olive, which offer considerable resistance to drought. Their 
northern and southern limits, together with those of the 
orange, are shown on the accompanying map. 

The Mediterranean was well suited for early commerce 
because of its long and contracted shape, indented northern 
shore, and numerous islands. Sailors seldom had a “ highway 
to proceed far from the sight of land or at a long of nations ” 
distance from good harbors. Though its storms are often 
fierce, they are usually brief, since the Strait of Gibraltar 
shuts out the great waves of the Atlantic. Freedom from 
high tides also aids navigation. Such advantages made the 






















102 The Lands of the West and the Rise of Greece 


Mediterranean from a remote period an avenue by which 
everything that the older Eastern world had to offer could 
be passed on to the younger Western world. The various 
European peoples themselves were also able to exchange 
their products and communicate their ideas and customs 
along this “highway of nations/’ 

The Mediterranean basin divides into two parts. The 
boundary between them lies near the center, where Africa 
Divisions of an d Sicily almost touch each other across a nar- 
the Mediter- row strait. The western part contains, besides 
ranean basm j ar g e i s i anc i s 0 f Sardinia and Corsica. 

Between these islands and the Italian coast lies the wide 
expanse of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The eastern part includes 
the Adriatic, Ionian, and /Egean seas. It was the last of 
these which had most importance in Greek history. 

31. Greece and the /Egean 

A glance at the map shows that the /Egean is almost land¬ 
locked. Only narrow passages lead northward to the Black 
The ;Egean Sea, while on the south the long and narrow 
Sea island of Crete lies like a huge breakwater. 

Hundreds of smaller islands dot the surface of the /Egean, 
so many and so close together that they have always served 
as “stepping stones’’ between Greece and Asia Minor. 

“The isles of Greece! the isles of Greece! 

Where burning Sappho loved and sung, 

Where grew the arts of war and peace, 

Where Delos rose, and Phoebus sprung. 

Eternal summer gilds them yet, 

But all except their sun is set. ” 

Greece proper — continental Greece — is a tiny country. 
Its greatest length is scarcely more than two hundred and 
Greece fifty rniles; its greatest breadth is only one hun¬ 
dred and eighty miles. Mountain ridges, off¬ 
shoots of the Balkans, break it up into numberless small 
valleys and glens, which seldom widen into plains. The rivers 


Forerunners of the Greeks 


103 


are not navigable. The few lakes, hemmed in by the hills, 
have no outlets except in underground channels. The coast 
line is most irregular — a constant succession of sharp head¬ 
lands and curving bays. No place in Greece is more than 
fifty miles from a mountain range or more than forty miles 
from some long arm of the Mediterranean. 

The coast of western Asia Minor resembles continental 
Greece in its deep indentations, variety of scenery, and mild 
climate. The fertile river valleys of this region western 
early attracted Greek colonists. They built here Asia Minor 
many flourishing cities, especially along the central coast, 
which came to be known as Ionia (§ 33). 

Greek history well illustrates the influence of geographical 
conditions on the life of a people. In the first place, mountain 
ranges cut up continental Greece into many small Influence of 
states, separated from one another by natural geographical 
ramparts. The result was that Greeks loved condltlons 
most of all their own local independence and always refused 
to unite into one nation under a single government. In the 
second place, the near presence of the sea made sailors of the 
Greeks and led them to devote much energy to foreign com¬ 
merce. They early felt, in consequence, the stimulating 
effects of intercourse with other peoples. Finally, the loca¬ 
tion of Greece at the threshold of Asia, with its best harbors 
and most numerous islands on the eastern coast, enabled the 
country to receive and profit by the culture of the Near East. 
Greece faced the civilized Orient. 

32. Forerunners of the Greeks 

When the Greeks first began to keep written records, per¬ 
haps as early as 750 B.C., they had lived for centuries in the 
TEgean region. They knew very little about their ^ ge an 
prehistoric period and had to depend on myths civilizati o n 
and legends, such as those preserved in the two epic poems 
called the Iliad and the Odyssey . Modern excavations in 
Greek lands have revealed, however, the remains of an 


104 The Lands of the West and the Rise of Greece 


extinct civilization which flourished at a remote period. Crete 
seems always to have been its center, and from Crete it 
spread, by commerce and colonization, to the adjacent 
islands, the coast of Asia Minor, and the shores of Greece. 
One may speak, therefore, of an TEgean civilization, since 
it came in time to prevail so widely in this part of the 
Mediterranean basin. 1 

The man who did most to reveal this civilization was a 
wealthy German merchant named Heinrich Schliemann. An 
Schiiemann’s enthusiastic lover of Homer, he believed that the 
excavations stories of the Trojan War related in the Iliad 
at Troy were not just fancies but real facts. In 1870 he 
started to test his beliefs by excavations at a hill called 
Hissarlik, on the northwestern coast of Asia Minor. Tradi¬ 
tion had always fixed here the site of ancient Troy. Schiie¬ 
mann’s discoveries and those of later explorers proved that 
at Hissarlik at least nine successive cities had come into 
existence, flourished, and passed away. The sixth city in 
order from the bottom was probably the one of which 
Homer sang. It had powerful walls defended by towers, 
well-fortified gates, and palaces of stone. The marks of fire 
throughout the ruins indicate that the city must have been 
destroyed by a great conflagration. 

The remarkable disclosures at Troy encouraged Schlie¬ 
mann to excavate other Homeric sites. At Mycenae, a pre- 
_ , historic city of Argolis in Greece, he laid bare a 

excavations number of rock-hewn graves, containing the 
at Mycenae skeletons of men, women, and children. The 

and Tiryns 

faces of the dead had been covered with thin 
masks of gold, and their bodies had been decked with gold 
diadems, bracelets, and pendants. The other funeral offer¬ 
ings included gold rings, silver vases, and a variety of bronze 
weapons. It is clear that these were the graves of wealthy 
and powerful rulers. At Tiryns, once the capital of Argolis, 
Schliemann uncovered the ruins of an extensive structure 
with gateways, open courts, and closed apartments. Char- 
1 See the map, page 55. 


Forerunners of the Greeks 


105 


acteristic of this edifice were the separate quarters occupied 
by men and women, the series of storerooms for provisions, 
and such a modern convenience as a bathroom with pipes 



Part of “Warrior Vase” from Mycenae 

National Museum, Athens 

This fragment, one of Schliemann’s discoveries at Mycenae, shows 
a line of spearmen marching out, while at the left a woman waves fare¬ 
well. The warriors wear helmets with crests and horns, corselets, and 
greaves, and they carry shields. Their stockings, tights, and kilts are 
also to be noticed. 

and drains. The palace of Tiryns gives us a clear and detailed 
picture of the home of a Homeric prince. 

The fame of all these discoveries has been somewhat 
dimmed by the excavations made since 1900 on the site of 
Cnossus, the ancient capital of the island of Evans , s ex _ 
Crete. At Cnossus an Englishman, Sir Arthur cavations at 
Evans, has found the remains of an enormous Cnossus 
palace, with numerous courts, passages, and rooms, in which 
it is difficult not to lose one’s way. Here is the royal council 
chamber with the throne on which the king once sat. Here 
are the royal magazines, still filled with huge earthenware 
jars for the storage of provisions. A great number of bril- 




106 The Lands of the West and the Rise of Greece 



m m 


liant pictures — hunting scenes, landscapes, portraits of men 
and women — cover the palace walls. At one of the main 
entrances the visitor sees a row of cup¬ 
bearers painted life-size. Another wall 
bears a representation of men and women, 
thickly crowded together as if witnessing 
some performance. This may have been 
the popular Cretan sport of bull-leaping, 
in which a youth faced the charging ani¬ 
mal, caught hold of its horns, and, if he 
was adroit enough, somersaulted over to 
land on its back. The costumes of the 
women are astonishingly modern in ap¬ 
pearance — or were so until a few years 
ago, when fashion abolished the wasp 
waist and the long skirt. The palace of 
Cnossus, where such remarkable discov¬ 
eries have been made, was plundered and 
burnt, perhaps by foreign invaders of 
Crete. 

These discoveries in the Aegean area 
enable us to place another venerable 
center of civilized life by the 
side of Babylonia and Egypt. 
As early as 3000 B.c. the 
inhabitants of the Aegean were giving up 
the use of stone tools and weapons for 
those of metal. Copper and then bronze 
came into general use, as is shown by the 
excavations. The five centuries between 
1600 and 1100 B.c. seem to have been 
the time when the civilization of the 
Aegean Age reached its highest develop¬ 
ment. 

The Aegean peoples were no longer 
wandering hunters or herdsmen, but settled farmers. They 
lived in villages and cities, where the frowning fortress of 




Cretan Marble 
Statuette 

Fitzwilliam Museum 
Cambridge, England 
The sculpture repre¬ 
sents a female worshiper, 
or possibly a goddess, 
with her hands held in an 
attitude of devotion upon 
her breast. She wears 
the characteristic Cretan 
dress, with short sleeves, 
low-cut bodice, and a bell¬ 
shaped skirt with pleated 
flounces. Her hair falls 
down the back and on the 
shoulders, and on her 
head is a three-tiered cap. 
The figure is made of two 
pieces joined together at 
the waist. It was found 
near Candia in Crete. 


Antiquity of 

A-Sgean 

civilization 




Forerunners of the Greeks 


107 


Art 


the chief or king looked down on the humble dwellings of 
common men. The monarch, as in the Near East (§ 19), 
was doubtless a despot, whose subjects and Features of 
slaves toiled to build the great palaces and iEgeancivi- 
tombs. If life was hard and cheerless for them, llzatlon 
it must have been pleasant enough for court ladies and gentle¬ 
men, who occupied luxurious apartments, wore fine clothing 
and jewelry, and enjoyed such exhibitions as bull-leaping 
and the contests of pugilists. 

Remarkable progress was made in some of the fine arts. 
JEge an architects raised imposing palaces of hewn and squared 
stone and arranged them for a life of comfort. 

Wall paintings, plaster reliefs, and fine carvings 
in stone excite our admiration. JEgean artists made beautiful 
pottery of many shapes 
and cleverly decorated 
with plant and animal 
forms. They carved ivory, en¬ 
graved gems, and inlaid metals. 

It was doubtless from their ^Egean 
forerunners that the Greeks de¬ 
rived some of their artistic genius. 

A form of recording thoughts 
had been secured. The excava¬ 
tions in Crete show that its in¬ 
habitants had passed from picture 
writing to the use of symbols for sounds. The palace of 
Cnossus contained several thousand clay tablets with inscrip¬ 
tions in a language as yet unread. About Writing 
seventy characters seem to have been in com¬ 
mon use. They probably denote syllables and indicate 
a decided advance over both Babylonian and Egyptian 
scripts. 

There was much commercial intercourse throughout the 
Mediterranean during ^Egean times. Products of Cretan art 
or imitations of them are found as far west as southern Italy, 
Sicily, and Sardinia, and as far east as inland Asia Minor, 



Bull’s Head in Relief 

A life-sized figure in painted stucco 
from the palace of Cnossus and one of 
the finest examples of ancient Cretan 
art. 


108 The Lands of the West and the Rise of Greece 


Commerce 


Syria, and Babylonia. Crete also enjoyed close commer¬ 
cial relations with both Egypt and Cyprus. In those 
ancient days Crete was mistress of the seas, and 
the merchants of that island preceded the Phoe¬ 
nicians as carriers between the Near East and Europe (§ 22). 

iLgean civilization did not penetrate 
deeply into Europe. The interior of 
Downfall of Greece still remained the 
^Egean civi- home of barbarous peoples, 
hzafmn w ho not yet learned 
to build cities, to create beautiful ob¬ 
jects of art, to keep written records, or 
to traffic on the seas. By 1100 B.c. 
their destructive inroads brought about 
the downfall of iEgean civilization. 



The Cretan Great 
Mother 

The chief deity of the Cre¬ 
tans was the Great Mother, 
personifying the female prin¬ 
ciple of life and the source of 
all fertility. Figures of the 
goddess were not often made; 
she was usually represented 
as a pillar or a holy tree. 


33. The Greeks 


The invaders from the north were 
tall, light-complexioned, fair-haired, 
Greek and blue-eyed, as are the 

invaders inhabitants of northern 

Europe to-day. Physically, they 
offered a sharp contrast to the short- 
statured and dark-skinned ^Egean peoples. Their speech 
was Greek, which belongs to the Indo-European family of 
languages (§ 8). They lived a nomadic life as hunters and 
herdsmen. When the grasslands became insufficient to sup¬ 
port their sheep and cattle, these northerners began to move 
gradually southward into the Danube Valley and thence 
through the many passes of the Balkans into Greece. The 
iron weapons which they possessed doubtless gave them a 
great advantage in conflicts with the bronze-using natives 
of this region. The invaders must have sometimes exter¬ 
minated or enslaved the earlier inhabitants; more often, 
perhaps, they settled peacefully in the sunny south. Con¬ 
querors and conquered slowly intermingled, thus produc- 



HERMES AND DIONYSUS 
Museum of Olympia 

An original statue by the 4th century sculptor Praxiteles, and one of the two extant single 
statues that are known for certain to be the actual work of a great Greek artist. The greatei 
part of this statue, including the fine head, was discovered in 1877 by German excavators at 
Olympia. Hermes is represented carrying the child Dionysus to the nymphs, whom Zeus had 
charged with his rearing. The symmetrical body of Hermes is faultlessly modeled; the poise of 
his head is full of dignity; his expression is refined and thoughtful. Manly strength and beauty 
have never been better embodied than in this work. The child-god, Dionysus, to whom Hermes 
in the complete statue held out a bunch of grapes, is not so successfully rendered. 











THE APHRODITE OF MELOS 

Louvre, Paris 

More commonly known as the “Venus of Milo.” The statue was found in 1820, 
hidden away in a cave on the island of Melos. It consists of two principal pieces joined 
together across the folds of the drapery. No satisfactory restoration of the missing arms 
has been made. Most art critics date this work about 300 b.c. or even a century or two 
later. The strong serene figure of the goddess sets forth the Greek ideal of female 
loveliness. 









The Greeks 109 

ing the one Greek people which is found at the dawn of 
history. 

The Greeks, as we shall now call them, did not stop at 
the southern limits of Greece. They also occupied Crete 
and the other Aegean Islands, together with the Greek 
western coast of Asia Minor. Their Asiatic set- settlements 
tlements came to be known as JE olis, Ionia, and Doris, 



The World According to Homer 

The Iliad and the Odyssey show a considerable acquaintance with continental Greece and 
the coasts of Asia Minor. Cyprus, Egypt, Sicily, and Italy are also known to some extent. 
The poet imagines the earth as a sort of flat shield, with Greece lying in the center. The 
Mediterranean — “The Sea,” as it is called by Homer — and the Black Sea divide the 
earth into two equal parts. “The Ocean,” a river broad and deep, surrounded the earth, 
and beneath the surface of the earth lay Hades, the home of the dead. 

after the names of Greek tribes. 1 The entire basin of the 
Aegean was henceforth the center of Greek life. 

Several hundred years elapsed between the end of the 
Aegean Age and the beginning of historic times in the Greek 
world, about 750 B.c. This period is usually The Homeric 
known as the Homeric Age, because various Age 
aspects of it are reflected in the Iliad and the Odyssey. 

1 See the map, page 111. 










110 The Lands of the West and the Rise of Greece 


These are long narrative poems (epics), probably composed 
in Ionia, and attributed to a blind bard named Homer. 
Some modern scholars, however, doubt the historical exist¬ 
ence of Homer and believe that the Iliad and the Odyssey 
were really the edited songs of many ancient minstrels. 

The Iliad is a poem dealing with the Trojan War. Accord¬ 
ing to the story, Troy, or Ilium, was besieged for ten years by 
The “ mad ” chieftains of Greece. They sought to 

avenge the seizure of Helen, wife of Menelaus of 
Sparta, by the handsome but faithless Paris, son of the 
Trojan king. Their leader was Agamemnon, brother of 
Menelaus, and ruler of Mycenae. The Iliad relates the events 
of only a few days during the last year of the war. The 
poem might perhaps as well have been called the Achilleid , 
for its real hero is the mighty Achilles, whose wrath against 
Agamemnon brought unnumbered woes to all the Greeks. 

The Odyssey has for its hero Odysseus, wisest of the princes 
who fought against Troy. After the fall of that city Odysseus 
The set sail for his island kingdom of Ithaca. He 

“ 0d y sse y ” wandered far and wide for many years, visiting 
strange countries and peoples, and meeting with very re¬ 
markable adventures. The Odyssey , as contrasted with the 
Iliad , is a story, not of war and battle, but of exploits on 
land and sea. It is a sort of geographical romance. 

The Iliad and the Odyssey show how rude was the culture 
of the Homeric Age, as compared with the splendid Aegean 
Culture of civilization which it displaced. The Greeks at 
the Homeric this time had not wholly abandoned the life of 
Age (112-113) shepherds for that of farmers. Wealth still con¬ 
sisted chiefly of flocks and herds. Nearly every freeman, 
however, owned a little plot of land on which he cultivated 
grain and cared for his orchard and vineyard. Though 
iron was now used for weapons and farm implements, bronze 
continued to be the commoner and cheaper metal. Coined 
money was unknown. Commerce was little followed. People 
depended upon Phoenician merchants for articles of luxury 
which they could not produce themselves. A class of skilled 


The Greeks 


111 


workmen had not arisen. There were no architects who 
could raise magnificent palaces and no artists who could 
paint or carve with the skill of their Aegean predecessors. 
Social life was very simple. Princes tended flocks and built 
houses; princesses carried water and washed clothes. Aga¬ 
memnon, Odysseus, and other heroes were not ashamed to 
be their own butchers and cooks. The Homeric knights 
did not ride on horseback, but fought from chariots. They 



sat at table, instead of reclining at meals, as did the later 
Greeks. Warfare was constant and cruel. The vanquished 
suffered death or slavery. Piracy, flourishing upon the un¬ 
protected seas, ranked as an honorable occupation. Murders 
were frequent. The murderer had to dread, not a public 
trial and punishment, but rather the private vengeance of 
the kinsmen of the victim. On the other hand, both the 
Iliad and the Odyssey contain many charming descriptions 
of family life. “There is nothing mightier or nobler,” sings 


































112 The Lands of the West and the Rise of Greece 


the poet, “than when man and wife are of one heart and mind 
in a house, a grief to their foes, to their friends great joy, 
but their own hearts know it best.” The Homeric Greeks, 
in short, had many of the virtues and vices of barbarous 
peoples. 

34. Greek Religion 

The Homeric Greeks and their successors worshiped vari¬ 
ous deities, twelve of whom formed a select council which 
Attributes was supposed to meet on snow-crowned Olympus 
of the deities in northern Thessaly. Many Olympian deities 
(i7o-i76) seem to have been simply personifications of 
forces and aspects of nature. Zeus, “father of gods and 
men,” as Homer calls him, was a heaven god, who gathered 
the clouds in storms and hurled the lightning bolt. The 
thunder was his sign; the rainbow and the eagle were his 
messengers. His brother, Poseidon, ruled the sea. His wife, 
Hera, presided over the life of women and especially over 
the sacred rites of marriage. His son, Apollo, a god of light, 
who warded off darkness and evil, became the ideal of 
manly beauty and patron of music, poetry, and the healing 
art. Athena, who sprang full-grown from the forehead of 
Zeus, embodied the idea of wisdom and all womanly virtues. 
In addition to these and other Olympian deities, there were 
many local gods and heroes, the guardians of every village, 
town, and city. 

The Olympian deities are really magnified men and 
women, subject to all human passions and appetites, but 
Conceptions possessed of more than human power and en- 
of the deities dowed with immortality. They enjoy the ban¬ 
quet, where they feast on nectar and ambrosia; they take 
part in the struggles of the battlefield; they marry and are 
given in marriage; and they often visit in disguise the humble 
dwellings of men. The deities, morally, were no better than 
their worshipers. They might be represented as deceitful, 
dissolute, and cruel, but they could also be regarded as up¬ 
holders of truth and virtue. Even Homer could say, “Verily 


Religious Institutions 113 

the blessed gods love not froward deeds, but they reverence 
justice and the righteous acts of men.” 

It was natural for the Greek, with his familiar ideas of the 
gods, to think of them and consult them in almost everything 
he did. If they were duly satisfied with prayers Religious 
and offerings, the worshiper felt sure of securing rites 
their assistance. Sacrifices of meat and wine were made for 
the nourishment of the gods; beautiful temples were pro¬ 
vided for their dwelling places; and splendid festivals were 
held in their honor. 

Early Greek ideas of the future life were dismal to an 
extreme. All men, it was thought, went down after death to 
the underworld of Hades and passed there a Ideas of the 
shadowy, joyless existence. The Greek Hades future life 
thus closely resembled the Hebrew Sheol and ^ 182 ~ 183 ) 
the Babylonian underworld of the dead (§ 24). It was not 
until several centuries after Homer that happier ideas of the 
future life were taught, or at least suggested, in the Eleusinian 
mysteries (§ 100). 

35. Religious Institutions 

The Greeks believed that the gods showed their purposes 
toward men by signs and portents: in thunder and lightning; 
in the flight of birds; and in the appearance of 0 racie of 
the entrails of animals offered for sacrifice. Com- Zeus at 
munications from the gods were also received Dodona 
from certain inspired persons at places called oracles. Such 
sacred places were visited by all who wished to learn the 
divine will. The oldest of these oracles was that of Zeus at 
Dodona in Epirus. Here the priests professed to read the 
divine will in the rustling leaves of an oak tree sacred to 
Zeus. Dodona was a place of resort as late as the fourth 
century of our era. 

The most important oracle of Apollo was situated at 
Delphi in Phocis, a spot which the Greeks regarded as the 
center of the world. Apollo was supposed to speak through 


114 The Lands of the West and the Rise of Greece 


Inquiries 


a prophetess, at first only once a year, on the god’s birth¬ 
day, but later on the seventh day of each month, which was 
Oracle of sacred to him. The words which the prophetess 

Apollo at uttered when “possessed” or inspired by Apollo 

Delphl were interpreted by the attendant priests, written 
out in verse, and delivered to inquirers. 

The fame of Apollo as the patron of inspiration and proph¬ 
ecy spread throughout Greece and 
penetrated to foreign lands. 

Every year thousands 
of visitors made their 
way in chariots, on mules, and on 
foot to Apollo’s oracle. Sick men 
prayed for health and childless 
men for offspring. Statesmen 
wished to learn the fate of their 
political schemes; ambassadors 
sent by kings and cities sought 
advice as to weighty matters of 
peace and war. Above all, colo¬ 
nists came to Delphi in order to 
obtain directions as to the best 
country in which to settle. Some 
of the noblest cities of the Greek 
world had their sites fixed by 
Apollo’s guidance. 

The priests who managed the 
oracle and its responses were 
usually able to give good advice 
to their inquirers because news of every sort streamed into 
Delphi. When the priests were doubtful what answer to 
make, the prophecy of the god was sometimes 
expressed in such an ambiguous form that, what¬ 
ever' the outcome, neither Apollo nor his servants could be 
charged with deceit. For instance, when Croesus, the Lydian 
king, was about to attack Cyrus the Great, he learned from 
the oracle that “if he warred with the Persians he would 



Consulting the Oracle at 
Delphi 

From a vase painting. The 
prophetess (Pythia) sits on a tripod. 
She holds a bowl in one hand and in 
the other a sprig of laurel, a plant 
sacred to Apollo. Before her stands 
the suppliant. 


Responses 




















RECONSTRUCTION OF DELPHI (above) AND OLYMPIA 

Delphi is situated, two thousand feet above the sea, on the southern slope of Mount 
Parnassus. Between the lower cliffs of the mountain lies a deep gorge with the Castalian 
spring in whose waters pilgrims to the oracle purified themselves. In ancient times Delphi 
possessed a splendid temple of Apollo, together with altars, statues, and other monuments. 

The sacred precinct of Zeus at Olympia was inclosed by a wall. Within stood the great 
temple of Zeus, containing a gold and ivory statue of the god by the Athenian sculptor 
Phidias. Many shrines, treasure houses, altars, and statues of victorious athletes were 
grouped about the temple. An arched passage opened into the stadium, where forty 
thousand spectators could witness the foot races and other contests. Near it was the 
hippodrome for horse races and chariot races, and a gymnasium. All these magnificent 
buildings were allowed to fall into ruins after the abolition of the Olympic games. 
































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Religious Institutions 115 

overthrow a mighty empire” — but the mighty empire proved 
to be his own (§ 17). 

The Delphic oracle exerted a beneficial influence, especially 
in early times. It helped to spread among the Greeks ideas 
of justice and right. Through its responses it taught mer¬ 
cifulness to the conquered, respect 
for the life of slaves, the strict ful- 
Ailment of treaties, and Importance of 
the wickedness of per- the Delphic 
jury and murder. The oracIe 
oracle lasted for over a thousand 
years. It was still honored at the 
close of the fourth century a.d., when 
a Roman emperor, after the adop¬ 
tion of Christianity, silenced it for¬ 
ever. The many magnificent build¬ 
ings, which made Delphi a museum 
of art, were allowed to sink into 
ruins. 1 

The Greeks seem to have brought 
with them from their northern home 
a great love of athletics. Athletic 
Physical training took contests 
with them a much larger place than 
with any other people, whether 
ancient or modem. Their athletic 
contests were closely connected with 
religion, being held in connection 
with the funeral or memorial rites 
of heroes and as a part of the wor¬ 
ship of the gods. They also served 
a practical end, for Greek armies were always levies of 
citizens whose physical development had to fit them for 
the toils of almost constant warfare. Each city held its 
own athletic contests, to which its citizens alone were 
admitted. There were also contests open to all Greeks, 

1 See the plate facing page 114. 



The Discus Thrower 
(Discobolus) 

Lancelotti Palace, Rome 


Marble copy of the bronze origi¬ 
nal by Myron, a sculptor of the 
fifth century b.c. Found in 1781 
on the Esquiline Hill, Rome. The 
statue represents a young man, 
perhaps an athlete at the Olympic 
games, who is bending forward to 
hurl the discus. 




116 The Lands of the West and the Rise of Greece 


the oldest and most famous being those in honor of Zeus at 
Olympia in Elis. 

The Olympic festival occurred every fourth year, in mid¬ 
summer. A sacred truce was proclaimed for a month at this 
Olympic time, so that the thousands of visitors from every 
games (188) p ar t 0 f the Greek world could arrive and depart 
in safety. No one not of Greek blood and no one convicted of 
crime might be a competitor. The games occupied five 
days, beginning with the contests in running. There was 
a short-distance dash through the length of the stadium 
(about two hundred and ten yards), a quarter-mile race, and 
also a longer race, probably for two or three miles. Then 
followed a contest consisting of five events: the long jump, 
hurling the discus, throwing the javelin, running, and wres¬ 
tling. It is not known how victory in these five events taken 
together was decided. In the long jump weights like dumb¬ 
bells were held in the hands, the swing of the weights be¬ 
ing used to assist the spring. The discus, which weighed 
about twelve pounds, was sometimes hurled more than one 
hundred feet. The javelin was thrown either by the hand 
alone or with the help of a thong wound about the shaft and 
held in the fingers. In wrestling three falls were necessary 
for a victory. The contestants were free to get their grip 
as best they could. Boxing was a favorite competition. 
There were also numerous horse races, with the jockeys 
riding their steeds bareback, and the very popular chariot 
races, which even kings thought it an honor to win. Both 
athletes and spectators liked a dangerous sport; we are 
told of a chariot race in which forty chariots entered, and 
only one escaped collision and reached the goal. Women 
were apparently excluded from the games, yet they were 
allowed to enter horses for the races and to set up statues 
in honor of victory. 

The Olympic games were religious in character, because the 
display of manly strength and skill was thought to be a 
spectacle most pleasing to the gods. The winning athlete 
received only a wreath of wild olive at Olympia, but at home 


117 


The Greek City-States 

he enjoyed the gifts and reverence of his fellow-citizens. 
The thousands of visitors at the festival gave to it the charac¬ 
ter of a great fair, at which merchants set up their influence of 
shops and money changers their tables. Poets the s ames 
recited their lines before admiring audiences, and artists 
exhibited their masterpieces to intending purchasers. Her¬ 
alds read treaties recently formed between Greek cities, in 
order to have them widely known. Orators spoke on 
subjects of general interest. The games thus did much 
to preserve a sense of fellowship among Greek commu¬ 
nities. 

The first recorded celebration of the games occurred in 
776 B.c. The four-year interval between them, called an 
Olympiad, became the Greek unit for determin- Revival of the 
ing dates. Events were reckoned as taking place games 
in the first, second, third, or fourth year of a given Olympiad. 
The games continued to take place regularly for many 
centuries. They were at last abolished, alofig with the 
Delphic oracle, as opposed to Christianity. Our own time 
has seen their revival as contests open to amateur athletes 
from all the world and held every four years in the principal 
cities of both Europe and America. The new Olympic 
games began at Athens in 1896. 

36. The Greek City-States 

Most Greek cities sprang from village settlements made 
in prehistoric times. Sometimes a village conquered its less 
powerful neighbors and compelled them to unite origin of 
with it. Sometimes a number of villages lying the cit y 
close together combined for the possession of a hill of refuge, 
called the citadel or acropolis. Fortresses and temples occu¬ 
pied the summit of this hill; at its foot lay the market 
place or public square; and about its rocky sides the inhabit¬ 
ants made their homes. Such a settlement might in time 
expand into a walled town, the seat of government for all 
the surrounding region. 


118 The Lands of the West and the Rise of Greece 


The ancient city was closely built up with narrow streets 
and low, clustering houses. It lacked the miles of suburbs 
Appearance of that belong to a modern metropolis. The largest 
the city and mos t beautiful buildings were always the 
temples, colonnades, and other public structures. Private 
houses were insignificant in appearance and were often of 
only one story. From a distance, however, their white¬ 
washed walls and red-tiled roofs, shining brightly under 
the sun, must have offered an attractive picture. 

A Greek city included not only the area within its walls, 
but also the surrounding district, where many citizens lived. 
The cit state Being independent and self-governing, it is prop¬ 
erly called a city-state. It could declare war, 
conclude treaties, and make alliances with its neighbors, 
just as is done by any modern country. Such city-states 
were not very populous, according to modern standards. 
Athens, at the climax of her power, may have had two 
hundred thousand free inhabitants and half as many slaves. 
Thebes, Argos, and Corinth were the next largest places in 
continental Greece. 

The citizens were very closely associated. They believed 
themselves to be descended from a common ancestor and they 
The citizens s ^ are< ^ a common worship of the patron god or 
hero who had them under his protection. These 
ties of supposed kinship and common religion made citizen¬ 
ship a privilege which a person enjoyed only by birth and 
which he lost by removal to another city-state. Elsewhere 
he was only a foreigner lacking legal rights — a man without 
a country. 

The independent city-states which from early times arose 
in the Near East later combined into kingdoms and empires 
Civic under one government (§ 17). The like never 

patriotism happened in the Greek world. Mountain ranges 
and deep inlets of the sea, by cutting up Greece proper 
into small, easily defended districts, made it almost im¬ 
possible for one city-state to conquer and hold in subjection 
neighboring communities for any length of time. Many 


119 


The Greek City-States 

city-states, moreover, were on islands or were scattered 
along remote coasts of the Mediterranean and the Black 
Sea. The result was that the Greeks never came together 
in one nation. Their city-feeling, or civic patriotism, took 
the place of our love of country. 

The Iliad and the Odyssey , which give us our first view of 
the Greek city-state, also contain the earliest account of its 
government. Each city-state had a king, “the Government 
shepherd of the people,” as Homer calls him. of the city- 
The king did not possess absolute authority, as state 
in the Near East (§ 19); he was more or less controlled by a 
council of nobles: They helped him in judgment and sacri¬ 
fice, followed him to war, and filled the principal offices. 
Both king and nobles were obliged to consult the common 
people on matters of great importance, such as making war or 
declaring peace. The citizens would then be summoned to 
meet in the market place, where they shouted assent to the 
proposals laid before them or showed disapproval by silence. 
This popular assembly had little importance in Homeric 
times, but later it became the center of Greek democracy. 

Many city-states, after the opening of the historic era in 
Greece, changed their form of government. In some of 
them, for example, Thebes and Corinth, the Political de _ 
nobles became strong enough to abolish the veiopment of 
kingship altogether. Monarchy, the rule of one, the Clty “ state 
thus gave way to aristocracy, the rule of the nobles. In 
Sparta and Argos the kings were not driven out, but their 
power was much lessened. Some city-states came under 
the control of usurpers whom the Greeks called “tyrants.” 
A tyrant was a man who gained supreme power by force 
or guile and governed for his own benefit without regard 
to the laws. There were many tyrannies in the Greek 
world during the seventh and sixth centuries B.c. Still 
other states, of which Athens formed the most conspicuous 
instance, went through an entire cycle of changes from 
kingship to aristocracy, thence to tyranny, and finally to 
democracy, or popular rule. 



120 The Lands of the West and the Rise of Greece 


37. Sparta and Athens 

The city-states most prominent in Greek history were 
Sparta in Laconia and Athens in Attica. Sparta had been 
spartan founded at a remote period by Greek invaders of 
society ( 96 ) southern Greece (the Peloponnesus). It con¬ 
quered some of the neighboring communities and entered 
into alliance with others, so that by 500 B.c. its power ex¬ 
tended over the greater part of the Peloponnesus. The 
Spartans were certainly good soldiers, but they were little 
more. They had no industries of importance, cared nothing 
for commerce, and lived upon the produce of their farms, 
which were worked by serfs. The Spartans never created 
anything worth while in literature, art, or philosophy. Their 
government was a monarchy in form, but since there were 
always two kings reigning at once, neither could become very 
powerful. The real management of affairs lay in the hands 
of five men, called ephors, who were elected every year by 
the citizens. The ephors accompanied the kings in war and 
directed their actions; guided the deliberations of the council 
of nobles and the popular assembly; superintended the edu¬ 
cation of children; and exercised a paternal control over 
everybody. 

Spartan education had a single purpose — to produce good 
soldiers and obedient citizens. A sound body formed the 
_.. . e , first essential. A Spartan father was required to 
submit his son, soon after birth, to an inspection 
by the elders of his tribe. If they found the child puny or 
ill-shaped, they ordered it to be left on the mountain side, to 
perish from exposure. At the age of seven, a boy was taken 
from his parents’ home and placed in a military school. Here 
he was trained in marching, sham fighting, and gymnastics. 
He learned to sing warlike songs and in conversation to 
express himself in the fewest possible words. Spartan brevity 
of speech became proverbial. Above all, he learned to en¬ 
dure hardship without complaint. He went barefoot and 
wore only a single garment, winter and summer. He slept 


121 


Sparta and Athens 

on a bed of rushes. Every year he and his comrades had to 
submit to a public flogging, and the hero was the lad who 
could bear the torture longest without giving a sign of pain. 
The youth became a warrior on reaching twenty years of age. 
He did not live at home, but passed his time in barracks, as a 
member of a military mess to which he contributed his 
proper share of food, wine, and money. At the age of thirty 
the Spartan became a full citizen and a member of the 
popular assembly. He was then compelled to marry in 
order to raise children for the State. Marriage did not free 
him from attendance at the public meals, the drill ground, 
and the gymnasium. A Spartan, in fact, enjoyed little home 
life until his sixtieth year, when he became an elder and 
retired from actual service. All the period of manhood was 
thus claimed by the strict, harsh discipline of a soldier’s 
career. As a sarcastic Athenian once remarked, ‘‘A Spartan’s 
life is so unpleasant that it is no wonder he throws it away 
lightly in battle.” 

The Spartans always believed that their laws were the 
work of a certain Lycurgus, who was supposed to have lived 
in the ninth century B.c. Nothing is really Lycurgus 
known about him, and some modem scholars 
even doubt his historical existence. Whether Lycurgus ever 
lived or not is unimportant, for it is certain that the peculiar 
institutions and customs of Sparta were the result of a long 
development. 

The district of Attica in central Greece was at first filled 
with a number of independent city-states. The inhabitants 
of the Attic towns and villages later gave up their Athens as a 
separate governments and became members of city-state 
the one city-state of Athens. Henceforth a man was an 
Athenian citizen, no matter in what part of Attica he lived. 

The kings of Athens in time lost their power to the nobles, 
whose rule bore harshly on the common people. Then arose 
in succession three lawgivers, who did much to Draco’s 
advance democracy at Athens. Draco provided code 
the Athenians with a written body of laws, to replace the 


122 The Lands of the West and the Rise of Greece 


unwritten customs which the judges (who were all nobles) 
interpreted so as to favor their own class. Draco's code 
was very severe, the penalty for most offenses, 
even the smallest theft, being death. The 
Athenians used to declare that the code had 
been written “not in ink, but in blood.” 

Solon, who followed Draco, improved the 
condition of the Attic peasants by canceling 
Reforms of the debts which they owed their 
Solon landlords, by restoring to freedom 

all those who had been enslaved for debt, and 
by limiting the amount of land which a noble 
might henceforth own. He also encouraged 
industry and trade by attracting to Attica 
skilled workingmen from abroad. Finally, he 
admitted even the poorest citizens to the popu¬ 
lar assembly, where they could vote for magis¬ 
trates and take part in public affairs. Solon 
thus gave the common people a greater share 
in the government and fostered the democratic 
movement at Athens. His name has come 
down to us as a synonym for a wise legislator. 

After Solon, Athens was ruled for half a cen¬ 
tury by tyrants, but these were finally driven 
out. A third lawgiver, named 
Clisthenes, now appeared on the 
scene. He carried further the democratic 
movement begun by Draco and Solon and 
gave to the Athenians the stable government 
under which they lived for nearly two cen¬ 
turies. Clisthenes is said, also, to have estab¬ 
lished the practice known as ostracism. 
Every year, if necessary, the people might by 
their votes declare any prominent man dan¬ 
gerous to the State and banish him for ten 
years. The name of the person voted against was written 
on a piece of pottery (Greek ostrakon). Ostracism was in- 



Gravestone 
of Aristion 

National Museum, 
Athens 

A relief belonging 
to the late sixth cen¬ 
tury b.c.; found at 
Brauron in Attica in 
1838. The warrior 
wears a helmet and 
a leather cuirass, 
with metal plates to 
strengthen it and 
metal shoulder 
pieces. He has 
greaves on his legs 
and carries a staff or 
spear. The grave¬ 
stone was that of an 
Athenian nobleman. 


Clisthenes 


























ms 










wm.-'. 


■ 


GREEK GIRLS PLAYING AT BALL 

After the painting by Lord Leighton 















123 


Colonial Expansion of Greece 

tended as a precaution against tyrants, but before long it 
came to be used to remove unpopular politicians (§§ 40, 42). 

The city-state of Athens thus stood in marked contrast to 
Sparta. Athens, by 500 B.c., had rid itself of kings and 
tyrants, had overthrown the power of the nobles, Democratic 
and had created the first really democratic gov- Athens 
ernment in antiquity. We shall describe later the Athenian 
democracy (§ 43) and set forth, also, some of the contributions 
of the Athenian genius to the artistic and intellectual life of 
mankind. 

38. Colonial Expansion of Greece 



The Greeks, with the sea at their doors, naturally became 
sailors, traders, and colonizers. After the middle of the 
eighth century B.c. the city-states 
began to plant numerous settle¬ 
ments along the shores Age of 
of the Mediterranean colonization 
and the Black Sea. The great age 
of colonization covered about two 
hundred and fifty years. 1 

Trade was one motive for coloni¬ 
zation. The Greeks, like the Phoeni¬ 
cians (§ 22), were able Motives for 
to realize large profits colonization 
by exchanging their manufactured 
goods for the food and raw materials 
of other countries. Land-hunger was another motive. The 
poor soil of Greece could not support many inhabitants, and, 
as population increased, emigration offered the only means 
of relieving the pressure of numbers. A third motive was 
political and social unrest. The city-states at this period con¬ 
tained many men of adventurous disposition, who were ready 
to seek in foreign lands a refuge from the oppression of 
nobles or tyrants. They hoped to find abroad more freedom 
than they had at home. 

1 See the map, page 74. 


Ship 

British Museum, London 

A vase painting of the ship of 
Odssyeus. He is represented as 
bound to the mast, in order not to be 
seduced by the singing of the Sirens. 



124 The Lands of the West and the Rise of Greece 


A Greek colony, ordinarily, formed an independent city- 
state, but the colonists, who called themselves “men away 
Nature of from home” always felt a strong attachment to 
colonization the i anc [ f r0 m w hich they sprang. Mother-city 
and daughter-colony traded with each other and in time 
of danger helped each other. The sacred fire carried from 
the public hearth of the old community to the new settle¬ 
ment formed a symbol of the close ties binding them together. 

The Greeks established many colonies along the coast of 
the northern Aegean and on both sides of the passages leading 
Colonies in into th e Black Sea. Their most important set- 
the north tlement here was Byzantium, upon the site where 
and northeast c ons t a ntinople now stands. The colonies which 
fringed the Black Sea were centers for the supply of fish, 
wood, wool, grain, meats, and slaves. The large profits to be 
gained by trade made the Greeks willing to live in what was 
then a wild and inhospitable region. 

The Greeks could feel more at home in southern Italy, 
where the genial climate, clear air, and sparkling sea re- 
Colonies in called their native land. They made so many 
the west settlements in this region that it came to be 

known as Great Greece (Magna Graecia). One of these 
was Cumae, on the coast just north of the Bay of Naples. 
Emigrants from Cumae, in turn, built the city of Naples 
(ancient Neapolis), which in Roman times formed a center 
of Greek culture and even to-day has a large Greek popula¬ 
tion. To secure the approaches from Greece to these remote 
colonies, two strongholds were established on the Strait of 
Messina: Reggio ( Regium ) on the Italian shore and Messina 
{Messana) on that of Sicily. The most important colony in 
Sicily was Syracuse, established by Corinth. The Greeks 
were unable to expand over the entire island, owing to the 
opposition of the Carthaginians (§ 22), who had numerous 
possessions there. 

The Greeks were also prevented by the Carthaginians from 
gaining much of a foothold in Corsica and Sardinia and on 
the coast of Spain. The city of Marseilles ‘(Massilia), at the 


125 


Bonds of Union among the Greeks 

mouth of the Rhone, was the chief Greek settlement in this 
part of the Mediterranean. Two colonies in the southeastern 
corner of the Mediterranean were Cyrene and other Medi _ 
Naucratis, the latter in the Delta of the Nile, terranean 
Many Greek travelers now visited Egypt to see colomes 
the wonders of that strange old country. Greek colonies 
were also established in Cyprus and along the southern coast 
of Asia Minor. 

Greek colonial expansion formed one of the most signifi¬ 
cant movements in ancient history, because it spread Greek 
culture over so many lands. The colonists con- Results of 
tinued to be Greeks in language, customs, and colonization 
religion. To distinguish themselves from foreigners (or “bar¬ 
barians”), the Greeks began to call themselves Hellenes, 
after a mythical ancestor, Hellen. Hellas, their country, 
came to include all the territory possessed by Hellenic 
peoples. Henceforth they were no longer confined within 
the narrow limits of the Aegean. Wherever rose a Greek city, 
there was a scene of Greek history. 

39. Bonds of Union among the Greeks 

The Greek colonies, as we have seen, were independent 
communities. The city-states of Greece itself were just as 
jealous of their independence. Nevertheless, Langua g e as 
ties existed, not of common government, but of a unifying 
common interests and ideals, which helped to force 
unite the scattered sections of the Greek world. The strong¬ 
est bond of union was the one Greek speech. The people 
everywhere used the same beautiful and expressive language. 
It is not a “dead” language, for it still lives in modified 
form on the lips of several million people in continental 
Greece and the adjacent islands. 

Greek literature, likewise, made for unity. The Iliad and 
the Odyssey were sung and recited in every Greek Literature as a 
village and city for centuries. They formed unifying force 
the principal textbook in the schools; an Athenian philoso- 


126 The Lands of the West and the Rise of Greece 


pher calls Homer the “educator” of Greece. It has been 
well said that these two epics were at once the Bible and 
the Shakespeare of the Greek people. 

Religion formed another bond of union. Everywhere the 

Greeks worshiped the same 
gods and performed the 
Religion as a same sacred 
unifying force r iteS. Reli- 

gious influences sometimes 
were strong enough to pro¬ 
duce loose federations of 
tribes or city-states known 
as amphictyonies. 1 The 
people living around a 
famous sanctuary would 
meet to observe their fes¬ 
tivals in common and to 
guard the shrine of their 
divinity. One of these 
local unions arose on the little island of Delos, the reputed 
birthplace of Apollo. A still more noteworthy example was 
the Delphic Amphictyony. It included twelve tribes and 
cities of central Greece and Thessaly. They established a 
council which took the temple of Apollo at Delphi under its 
protection and superintended the athletic games held there 
in honor of the god. 

For Explanation 



Woman Spinning 

From a vase painting. 


Schliemann 

Hissarlik 

Mycenae 

Tiryns 

Sir Arthur Evans 

Cnossus 

Dorians 

iEolians 

Ionians 

Ionia 


Mount Olympus 
Hades 
Delphi 
oracle 
Olympia 
Delos 
amphictyony 
city-state 
helot 
ephor 

1 See the map, page 111. 


Lycurgus 

Attica 

Draco 

Solon 

ostracism 

Byzantium 

Cumae 

Magna Graecia 

Hellas 

Hellenes 







Bonds of Union among the Greeks 127 

For Discussion 

1. “History is geography set in motion.” What does this statement 
mean? 

2. “Europe resembles the human hand, from the elaborate division of 
its parts and the opportunities it affords for contact.” Explain this 
statement. 

3. “In many respects Europe may be considered the most favored among 
the continents.” Explain this statement. 

4. Why was Europe better fitted than Asia to develop the highest civiliza¬ 
tion? Why not so well fitted to originate civilization? 

5. What does the name Mediterranean mean? Why did the Romans 
call it “Our Sea”? 

6. “The history of the Mediterranean from the days of Phoenicia, Crete, 
and Greece to our own time is a history of western civilized mankind.” 
Comment on this statement. 

7. “The Mediterranean was, for the ancient world, the great highway 
of commerce and the road to empire.” Comment on this statement. 

8. How does the TEgean Sea repeat on a small scale the features of the 
Mediterranean as a whole? 

9. Show that Greece in its physical aspects is the “most European of 
European lands.” 

10. “The Greeks were within a few days’ sail of nearly all that was best 
worth knowing about, whether in thought or feeling, in action or in 
aspiration.” Comment on this statement. 

11. Compare Greek ideas of the future life with those of the Babylonians 
and early Hebrews. 

12. Why has the Delphic oracle been called the “common hearth of 
Hellas”? 

13. What resemblances do you discover between the Olympic festival and 
an international exposition of to-day? 

14. What differences can you establish between an ancient city-state such 
as Athens and (a) a modern territorial state such as England or France 
and ( b) a modern city such as London or Paris? 

15. What is the difference between slavery and serfdom? Did the Spartans 
have slaves or serfs? 

16. Compare the motives which led to Greek colonization with those 
which led to the founding of colonies in the New World. 

17. What differences existed between Phoenician and Greek colonization? 

18. Why have Greek colonies been called “patches of Hellas”? 

19. How were the Greeks culturally united? How were they politically 
disunited? 

20. How did the Greeks reckon dates? What is the date of the first re¬ 
corded Olympiad? 


128 The Lands of the West and the Rise of Greece 


For Further Study 

1. Determine on the map (page 98) what regions of Europe are less 
than 500 feet above sea level; less than 3000 feet; over 3000 feet. 

2. Insert in your notebook the figures for the areas of Europe, Brazil, 
Canada, and the United States (including Alaska). 

3. Look up the legend of Minos, the Labyrinth, and the Minotaur and 
prepare an oral report upon it. 

4. Compare the Olympic games in Los Angeles in 1932 with the original 
Greek games. 

5. Define the terms monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, and democracy as the 
Greeks used them. 

6. Locate the Greek colonies of Byzantium, Cumae, Messina, Syracuse, 
Massilia, Cyrene, and Naucratis (map, page 74). 

7. Suppose that one of the Greek cities plans to found a colony in Sicily 
and wants advice from the Delphic oracle. Dramatize the arrival of 
the messengers and the response from the prophetess. 

8. Write a story, “When I Left Home,” describing the experiences of a 
Greek boy who emigrated with his parents to Byzantium. 

9. Explain these current expressions: a “Delphic response”; a “laconic 
speech”; a “Spartan character”; and “Draconian severity.” 

10. Read one of the following poems based on Greek mythology and 
report upon it to the class: Jonson, Hymn to Diana; Lowell, The 
Shepherd of King Admetus; Tennyson, Ulysses; and Wordsworth, 
Laodamia. 


Supplementary 

Webster, Readings in Early European History, chapter iii, “Early Greek 
Society as Pictured in the Homeric Poems”; chapter iv, “Stories from 
Greek Mythology”; chapter v, “Some Gfeek Tyrants”; chapter vi, 
“Spartan Education and Life.” 

Webster and Webb, Historical Outline Maps and Exercises: Early European 
History, No. Ill, Physical Europe; No. IV, Greek Expansion in the 
Mediterranean. 


CHAPTER VI 


THE GREAT AGE OF THE GREEK CITY-STATES 

Athens is the city in which the great traits of Greek civilization, those 
which have left their imprint upon humanity, became most prominent and 
most illustrious. 

— Maurice Croiset 

The freedom of the human mind never demonstrated itself in the shaping 
of human institutions more convincingly than in the Greek city-republics, 
and most wonderfully in Athens. 

— Henry Osborn Taylor 

40. Greece and Persia 

The history of Greece for many centuries had been un¬ 
eventful — a history of the uninterrupted expansion of Greek 
peoples over foreign lands. Their civilization, The perils 
spread by colonization and commerce, promised of Greece 
to penetrate every region of the Mediterranean. This situa¬ 
tion changed after the middle of the sixth century B.c. The 
creation of the Persian Empire (§ 17) reacted almost at once 
upon the Greek world. Cyrus the Great, who founded the 
power of Persia, carried his victorious arms throughout Asia 
Minor, thus becoming overlord of the Ionian and other Greek 
communities on the shores of the TEgean (§ 33). His son, 
Cambyses, conquered the island of Cyprus and after sub¬ 
duing Egypt proceeded to add Cyrene and other Greek 
colonies in North Africa to the Persian dominions (§ 38). 
The entire coast of the eastern Mediterranean came in this 
way under the control of a single, powerful, and aggressive 
state. 

The accession of Darius I to the throne of Persia only 
increased the dangers that overshadowed the Greek world. 

129 


130 The Great Age of the Greek City-States 

Darius desired to secure his possessions on the northwest 
by extending them as far as the Danube River, which would 
Conquests of furnish an admirable frontier. Accordingly, he 
Darius i entered Europe with a large army and marched 
against the barbarous but warlike Scythians, then living on 



both sides of the lower Danube. After the return of Darius 
to Asia, his lieutenants conquered the Greek settlements 
on the northern shore of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus, 
together with the wild tribes of Thrace and Macedonia. 
The Persian Empire now included a considerable part of 
the Balkan peninsula as far as Greece. 1 

1 See the map between pages 42-43. 
























Greece and Persia 


131 


Not long after the European expedition of Darius, the 
Ionian cities of Asia Minor revolted against Persia. The 
Ionians sought the help of Sparta, the chief The Ionian 
military state of Greece. The Spartans refused Revolt 
to take part in the war, but the Athenians, who 499-493 B - c * 
realized the threat to Greece from the Persian advance, 
aided the Ionians with both ships and soldiers. The allied 
forces captured and destroyed Sardis, the chief city of the 
Persians in Asia Minor. The rest of the Asiatic Greeks 
now joined the Ionians, and even 
Thrace threw off the Persian yoke. 

These successes were only tempo¬ 
rary. The revolting cities, unable 
to hold out against the vast re¬ 
sources possessed by the Great 
King, again fell one by one into 
his hands. 

The Greek historian, Herodo¬ 
tus (§ 61), on whom we rely for 
our knowledge of the .< Remember 
Persian wars, declares theAthen- 
that Darius was con- ians 
sumed with rage when tidings came 
of the burning of Sardis by the 
Ionians and Athenians. “ ‘Who 
are these Athenians?’ he asked, 
and, being informed, called for his 
bow, and placing an arrow on the 
string, shot upward into the sky, saying, as he let fly the 
shaft:— ‘ Grant me, Zeus, to revenge myself on the Athe¬ 
nians!’ After this speech he bade his cupbearer to . repeat 
three times every day, when his dinner was spread, these 
words to him— ‘Master, remember the Athenians.’ ” 

Peace had no sooner been restored in Asia Minor than 
Darius made ready to reassert Persian supremacy in the 
Balkan peninsula and to punish Athens for her share in the 
Ionian Revolt. Only the first part of this program was 



Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris 

A painting on an Attic vase of 
about 400 b.c. The barbarian 
wears a tall cap with lappets which 
could be fastened under the chin. 
His undergarments are of chequer- 
pattern, with sleeves and trousers. 
Over these he wears a tunic, gathered 
in at the waist. 



Persian 

expedition 


132 The Great Age of the Greek City-States 

carried out. A large army, commanded by Mardonius, the 
son-in-law of the Persian monarch, soon reconquered Thrace 
First Persian anc * received the submission of Macedonia, 
expedition, Mardonius could not proceed farther, however, 
because the Persian fleet, on which his army de¬ 
pended for supplies, was wrecked in a storm off the promon¬ 
tory of Mount Athos. 

The partial failure of the first Persian expedition only 
aroused Darius to renewed exertions. Two years later an¬ 
other fleet, bearing per¬ 
haps twenty thousand 
second soldiers, set 
out from Ionia 
to Greece. The 
route, this time, led across 
the ^Egean, in order that 
the Persians might strike 
directly at Athens. The 
main body of the enemy, 
under the command of 
Datis, soon landed on the 
plain of Marathon, 
twenty-six miles from 
Athens. 1 

The situation of the 
Athenians seemed des- 

Battle of Perate. They 

Marathon, had scarcely 

490 b.c. ten thousand 

men with whom to face 

an army at least twice as 
large and hitherto invin- 
cible. The Spartans 
promised support, but delayed sending troops at the critical 
moment. Nevertheless, the Athenians decided to take the 
offensive. Their able general, Miltiades, believed that the 
1 See the map, page 139. 



Persian Soldiers 

Louvre, Paris 

Part of a frieze of enameled brick from the 
palace of Darius I at Susa. It is a masterpiece of 
Persian art and shows the influence of Babylonian 
design. The soldiers are the so-called “Immor¬ 
tals,” who formed the royal bodyguard. Each one 
carries a spear, in addition to the bow over the 
left shoulder and the quiver on the back. 














Greece and Persia 


133: 


Persians, however numerous, were no match for heavy¬ 
armed Greek soldiers. The issue of the battle of Marathon 
proved him right. The Athenians crossed the plain at the 
quickstep and in the face of a shower of arrows made a. 



Greek Soldiers in Battle 


Part of a vase painting showing a battle scene (the fight for the body of Achilles) from the- 
Trojan War. The arms and armor are those of a much later period. The artist has inserted; 
the names of the warriors. 

smashing charge which drove the enemy in confusion and 
heavy loss to their ships. The Persian fleet, with what 
remained of the army, then sailed back to Asia Minor. 

Marathon has been often included among the decisive 
battles of history. It did not end the struggle, for the 
Persians made one more effort to conquer Greece, significance 
Their defeat at Marathon obliged them, how- of Marath <>n 
ever, to delay another attack for a full decade and thus gave 
the Greeks a breathing spell in which to prepare themselves 
for even more determined resistance. The repulse of a power¬ 
ful armament by a small force of resolute soldiers was a 
wonderful encouragement to those who bade Greece refuse 
the Persian yoke and strike a blow for freedom. “The 
Athenians,” says Herodotus, “were the first who dared to 
look upon the Median (Persian) garb, and to face men clad 
in that fashion. Until this time the very name of the 
Medes had been a terror to the Greeks to hear.” 

The Athenians realized that before long they would have 
to meet another and still more dangerous attack . . ., 

o Aristides 

from Persia. How best to meet it gave rise to 

much difference of opinion. One of the popular leaders, Aris- 




134 The Great Age of the Greek City-States 

tides, believed in the Spartan military system and looked 
on a trained body of soldiers as the chief defense of Athens. 
Let the Athenians increase their army, he urged, and meet 
the Persians on land. 

His political rival, Themistocles, stood for a very dif¬ 
ferent policy. This man had shown from early youth a de- 
^ , cided bent for public affairs. He did not spend his 

holidays in play or idleness, as did other children, 
but practiced speech-making and declamation, instead. His 
schoolmaster, seeing him thus occupied, would sometimes 
remark, “You, my boy, will be nothing small , but great 
one way or another, either for good or for bad.” Themis¬ 
tocles fought bravely at Marathon, but so envied the victor 
of that battle as to declare that the “trophies of Miltiades” 
robbed him of sleep. Though he lacked wealth or influential 
friends, his consuming ambition and brilliant intellect soon 
brought him into prominence among the citizens. Themis¬ 
tocles now proposed that the people should build up their 
navy, rather than their army, and make Athens the strongest 
sea-power in Greece. The safety of Athens, he argued, lay 
in her ships. In order to decide the issue, resort was had 
to ostracism (§ 37). The vote went against Aristides, who 
was obliged to go into exile. Themistocles then persuaded 
the citizens to use the revenues from some silver mines in 
Attica for the upbuilding of a fleet. When the Persians 
came, the Athenians were able to oppose them with nearly 
two hundred triremes — the largest navy in Greece. 


41. Xerxes and the Great Persian War 

“Ten years after Marathon,” says a Greek historian, “the 
‘ barbarians ’ returned with the vast armament which was to 
enslave Hellas.” Darius was now dead, but his 
son Xerxes had determined to complete his task. 
Vast quantities of provisions were collected; the Dardanelles 
strait was bridged with boats; and the rocky promontory 
of Mount Athos, where a previous fleet had suffered ship- 


Preparations 
of Persia 


Xerxes and the Great Persian War 


135 


wreck, was pierced with a canal. An army, estimated to 
exceed one hundred thousand men, was brought together 
from all parts of the Great King’s realm. He evidently 
intended to crush the Greeks by sheer weight of numbers. 

Early in the year 480 B.c. the Persian host moved out of 
Sardis, crossed the Dardanelles, and advanced as far as 
the Pass of Thermopylae, com¬ 
manding the entrance into cen- 
tral Greece. This Battleof 
position, one of great Thermopylae, 
natural strength, was 480 B ’ c ’ 
held by the Greeks under the 
Spartan king, Leonidas. Xerxes 
for two days hurled his best 
troops against the defenders of 
Thermopylae, only to find that 
numbers did not avail in that 
narrow defile. There is no telling 
how long the Greeks might have 
resisted, had not the Persians 
found a road over the mountain 
the rear of the pass. The 


m 



“Leonidas” 

National Museum, Athens 
A marble bust found by British 
archaeologists at Sparta in 1925. It 
dates from the fifth century b.c. and 
may well be a representation of the 
Spartan king who fell at Thermopylae. 


Greeks still had time to retreat, 
but Leonidas and his three hun¬ 
dred Spartans and perhaps two 
thousand allies refused to desert 
their post. While Persian officers 
provided with whips lashed their 
unwilling troops to battle, the Greeks fought until their 
spears and swords were broken, and hands and teeth alone 
remained as weapons. Xerxes at length won the pass — but 
only over the bodies of its heroic defenders. A monument 
to their memory was afterward raised on the field of battle. 
It bore the simple inscription: “Stranger, go tell the Spar¬ 
tans that we lie here in obedience to their commands.” 

The desperate resistance of the Greeks at Thermopylae 
must have shown the Persians that the conquest of Greece 


136 The Great Age of the Greek City-States 

would be no easy task. A few days after the battle, word was 
brought to Xerxes that the Greeks were at that moment cele- 
significance brating the Olympic games. “What prize does 
of Ther- the victor receive?” he asked. “A wreath of 
mopyiae olive,” was the answer. Then one of the Persian 
nobles could no longer restrain himself, even in the royal 
presence, and exclaimed, “Good Heavens! What manner of 
men are these against whom you have brought us to fight! 
Men who contend with one another, not for money, but for 
honor!” 

The Persians now marched rapidly through central Greece 
to Athens, but found a deserted city. Upon the advice of 
Battle of Themistocles, the non-combatants had with¬ 
stands, drawn to places of safety and the entire fight¬ 
ing force of Athens had gone on shipboard. The 
Greek fleet, which consisted chiefly of Athenian vessels 
under the command of Themistocles, then took up a posi¬ 
tion in the strait separating the island of Salamis from 
Attica and awaited the enemy. The Persians at Salamis 
had many more ships than the Greeks, but Themistocles 
believed that in the narrow strait their numbers would be 
;a disadvantage to them. Such turned out to be the case. 
The Persians fought well, but their vessels, crowded to¬ 
gether, could not navigate properly and even wrecked one 
another by collision. After an all-day contest what re¬ 
mained of their fleet withdrew to Asia Minor. 

“A king sate on the rocky brow 

Which looks o'er sea-born Salamis; 

And ships, by thousands, lay below, 

And men, in nations: — all were his! 

He counted them at break of day; 

And when the sun set where were they? ” 

The Great King himself had no heart for any more fighting. 
However, he left Mardonius, with a large body of picked 
a tempting troops, to subjugate the Greeks by land. Mar- 
offer (103) donius passed the winter quietly in Thessaly, 
preparing for the coming campaign. During this interval 


Xerxes and the Great Persian War 


137 


the crafty Persian made every effort to detach the Athe¬ 
nians from their associates. He promised to restore their 
city, which Xerxes had burned, and to make them the rulers 
of Greece. It was a tempting offer, but the men of Athens 
knew their duty. “As long as the sun keeps his present 
course/’ they proudly answered, “we will never join alliance 
with Xerxes. Nay, we shall oppose him unceasingly, trust¬ 
ing in the aid of those gods and heroes whom he has sa 






_ m &ssaj5aM&S3x&. - - 

qqo c&rzrJcj c:*o ci «■ 


An Athenian Trireme 

Bas-relief found on the Acropolis of Athens. Dates from about 400 b.c- 
The part of the relief preserved shows the waist of the vessel, with the 
uppermost of the three banks of rowers. Only the oars of the two lower 
banks are seen. The trireme of the fifth and fourth centuries b.c meas¬ 
ured about one hundred and fifty feet in length and was equipped with 
about one hundred and seventy oars. 


lightly esteemed, whose houses and whose images he has 
burnt with fire.” 

The Greeks now made a supreme effort. A Spartan army, 
supported by the Athenians and other allies, met the enemy 
near the little town of Platsea in Boeotia. The Battles of 
Greek soldiers, with their long spears, huge Piataea and 
shields, and heavy swords, were completely sue- ^ycaie, 
cessful. Mardonius was killed and only a few 
thousand of his troops escaped with their lives. At about 
the same time as this battle the remainder of the Persian 
fleet suffered a crushing defeat at Mycale, on the Ionian 
coast. These two engagements practically ended the contest. 

The Persian wars were much more than a struggle for 
supremacy between two rival powers. They were a struggle 






138 The Great Age of the Greek City-States 

between East and West; between Oriental despotism and 
Occidental democracy. Had Persia won, the fresh, vigor- 
victorious ous Western civilization then being developed 
Greece by Athens and other Greek states would have 
been submerged, perhaps for centuries, under the influx of 
Eastern ideas and customs. The Greek victory saved Europe 
for better things. It was a victory for human freedom. 


fication of 
Athens 


42. Athens under Themistocles, Aristides, 

AND ClMON 

After the battle of Platsea the Athenians, with their wives 
and children, returned to Attica and began the restoration 
The stccies their c ity- Their first care was to raise a wall 
and The forti- so high and strong that Athens in future would 
be impregnable to attack. Upon the suggestion 
of Themistocles it was decided to include within 
the fortifications a wide area where all the country people, 
in case of another invasion, could find a refuge. Themis¬ 
tocles also persuaded the Athenians to build a massive wall 
on the land side of Piraeus, the port of Athens. That harbor 
town now became the center of Athenian industry and com¬ 
merce. 

After the battle of Mycale the Greek states in Asia Minor 
and on the islands once more rose in revolt against the 
Aristides and Persians. Athens and Sparta this time lent their 
the Delian aid in a final effort to rid the Greek world of the 
League “barbarians.” The successes of the allied forces 
removed the immediate danger of another Persian attack. 
It was clearly necessary, however, for the Greek cities around 
the flEgean to remain in close alliance with the continental 
Greeks if they were to keep their independence. Under 
the guidance of Aristides, the Ionian Greeks and Athens 
formed a union known as the Delian League. 

The larger cities in the league agreed to provide ships and 
crews for a fleet, while the smaller cities were to make their 
contributions in money. Athens assumed the presidency 


Athens under Themistocles, Aristides, and Cimon 139 

of the league, and Athenian officials collected the revenues, 
which were placed for protection in the temple constitution 
of Apollo on the island of Delos. Athens now of the Delian 
had a position of supremacy in the Aegean like League 
that which Sparta enjoyed in the Peloponnesus (§37). 

The man who succeeded Themistocles and Aristides in 
leadership of the Athenians was Cimon, son of Miltiades, 



Both Athens and its port of Piraeus (nearly five miles distant) were surrounded by 
massive fortifications. The Long Walls, connecting the two places, were constructed 
under Cimon and Pericles. The walls ran parallel to each other, but far enough apart 
to inclose a wide road along which troops and supplies could be brought from the 
port to the city. They were thrown down by the Spartans in 404 b.c., at the close of 
the Peloponnesian War, but were rebuilt eleven years later. A third wall ran to 
the eastern extremity of the Bay of Phalerum, the earlier port of Athens. 

the hero of Marathon. While yet a youth his gallantry at 
the battle of Salamis gained him a great reputation, and 
when Aristides introduced him to public life the Cimon and 
citizens welcomed him gladly. He soon became the war 
the head of the aristocratic or conservative a s ainst Persia 
party in the Athenian city. To Cimon the Delian League 
intrusted the continuation of the war with Persia. The 
choice was fortunate, for Cimon had inherited his father’s 
military ability. No man did more than he to humble 







140 The Great Age of the Greek City-States 

the pride of Persia. As the outcome of Cimon’s successful 
campaigns, the southern coast of Asia Minor was added 
to the Delian League, and the Greek cities at the mouth 
of the Black Sea were freed from the Persian yoke. These 
victories completed the liberation of the Asiatic Greeks. 

Meanwhile, the character of the Delian League was being 
transformed. Many of the cities, instead of furnishing ships, 
Athenian had taken the easier course of making all their 
naval empire contributions in money. The change really 
played into the hands of Athens, for the tribute enabled the 
Athenians to build the ships themselves and add them to their 
own navy. They soon had a fleet powerful enough to coerce 
any city that failed to pay its assessments or tried to with¬ 
draw from the league. Eventually, the common treasury 
was transferred from Delos to Athens. The date of this 
event (454 b.c.) may be taken as marking the formal 
establishment of the Athenian naval empire. 

Sparta and her Peloponnesian allies viewed with growing 
jealousy the rapid rise of Athens. As long, however, as 
Rivalry be- Cimon remained at the head of Athenian affairs, 
tween Athens there was little danger of a break with Sparta, 
and Sparta desired his city to keep on good terms with 

that powerful neighbor: Athens should be mistress of the 
seas, and Sparta should be mistress on the mainland. A 
contest between them, Cimon foresaw, would work lasting 
injury to all Greece. Cimon’s pro-Spartan attitude finally 
brought him into disfavor at Athens, and he was ostracized. 
New men and new policies henceforth prevailed in the 
Athenian state. 

43. Athens under Pericles 

The ostracism of Cimon deprived the aristocrats of their 
most prominent representative. The democratic or liberal 
Pericles P ar ty now came into control of public affairs. 

Pericles, the leader of the democrats, was a man 
of studious habits. He never appeared on the streets except 


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Athens under Pericles 


141 


when walking between his house and the popular assembly or 
the market place, kept rigidly away from dinners and drink¬ 
ing bouts, and ruled his household with strict economy that 
he might escape the suspicion of enriching himself at the 
public expense. He did not speak often before the people, 
but came forward only on special occasions; and the rarity 
of his utterances gave them added weight. Though a per¬ 
fectly fluent orator, we are told that he wrote out his speeches 
with the utmost care before delivering them. His manner 
on the platform was the reverse of dramatic; scarcely a 
gesture or a movement ruffled the folds of his mantle. 
“Persuasion sat on his lips, such was his charm.” 

Pericles was a thorough democrat, but he used none of 
the arts of the demagogue. He scorned to flatter the popu¬ 
lace. His power over the people rested on his Leadership 
majestic eloquence, on his calm dignity of de- of Pericles 
meanor, above all, on his unselfish devotion to the welfare 
of Athens. “He was able,” said a contemporary historian, 
“to control the multitude in a free spirit; he led them 
rather than was led by them. Not seeking power by dis¬ 
honest arts, he had no need to say pleasant things, but, on 
the strength of his own high character, he could venture 
to oppose and even to anger them. When he saw them un¬ 
reasonably elated and arrogant, his words humbled and 
awed them; and, when they were depressed by groundless 
fears, he sought to arouse their confidence. Thus Athens, 
though still in name a democracy, was in fact ruled by 
her greatest citizen.” 

The period, about thirty years in length, between the 
ostracism of Cimon and the death of Pericles, forms the 
most brilliant epoch in Greek history. Under Age of Peri _ 
the guidance of Pericles the Athenian naval em- cies, 461-429 
pire reached its widest extent. Through his di- B ' c ‘ 
rection Athens became a complete democracy. Inspired 
by him the Athenians came to manifest that love of knowl¬ 
edge, poetry, art, and all beautiful things which, even more 
than their empire or their democracy, has made them 


142 The Great Age of the Greek City-States 

famous in the annals of mankind. The Age of Pericles 
affords, therefore, a convenient opportunity to set forth 
the leading features of Athenian civilization in the days 
-of its greatest glory. 

The Athenians ruled more than two hundred towns and 
cities in Asia Minor and on the islands of the Aegean Sea. 1 
Athenian The subjects of Athens, in return for the protec- 

imperiaiism tion that she gave them against Persia, owed 
many obligations. They paid an annual tribute and fur¬ 
nished soldiers in time of war. In all legal cases of impor¬ 
tance the citizens had to go to Athens for trial by Athenian 
courts. The Delian communities, in some instances, were 
forced to endure the presence of Athenian garrisons and 
officers. They were also compelled to have governments 
after the Athenian model. To the Greeks at large all this 
seemed nothing less than high-handed tyranny. Athens, 
men felt, had built up an empire on the ruins of Greek 
liberty. 

The Athenians governed imperially, but they belonged 
to a democratic state. Democracy, the rule of the sovereign 
Athenian people, was unknown in the ancient Near East 

democracy (§19). It formed a Greek contribution, espe¬ 
cially an Athenian contribution, to civilization. The Athe¬ 
nians had now learned how unjust was the rule of a tyrant 
or of a privileged class of nobles. They tried, instead, to 
give every citizen, whether rich or poor, whether a noble or 
a commoner, an opportunity to hold office, to serve in the 
courts, and to take part in legislation. Hence the Athenian 
popular assembly and courts were open to all respectable 
-citizens. The offices, also, were made very numerous — four¬ 
teen hundred in all — so that they might be distributed as 
widely as possible. Most of them were annual, and some 
could not be held twice by the same person. Election to 
office was usually by lot. This arrangement did away with 
favoritism and allowed the poor man a chance in politics, 
as well as the man of wealth or noble birth. 

1 See the map, page 145. 



Athens under Pericles 


143 


The center of Athenian democracy was the Assembly. 
All citizens who had reached twenty years of age were 
members. The number present at a meeting The 
rarely exceeded more than five thousand, be- Ass embiy 
cause most of the citizens lived outside the walls in the 
country districts of Attica. Forty regular meetings were 
held every year. These took place on the slopes of the hill 
called the Pnyx. A speaker before the Assembly faced a 
difficult audience. It was ready to yell its disapproval of 
his advice, to mock him if he mispronounced a word, or to 
drown his voice with shouts and whistles. The debates 
naturally became a training school for orators. No one 
could make his mark in the Assembly who was not a clear 
and interesting speaker. Voting was by show of hands, 
except in cases affecting individuals, when the ballot was 
used. Whatever the decision of the Assembly, it was final. 
This great popular gathering settled questions of war and 
peace, sent out military and naval expeditions, authorized 
public expenditures, and had general control over the affairs 
of Athens and her dependencies. 

The Assembly was assisted in the conduct of public busi¬ 
ness by many officers and magistrates, among whom the 
Ten Generals held the leading place. It was The Ten 
their duty to guide the deliberations of the As- Generals 
sembly and to execute the orders of that body. The people 
showed their appreciation of Pericles by choosing him for 
one of the Ten Generals sixteen years in succession. 

There was also a system of popular courts composed of 
citizens selected by lot from the candidates who presented 
themselves. A court was both judge and jury; Popular 
it decided by majority vote; and from its de- courts 
cision lay no appeal. Before these courts public officers 
accused of wrongdoing were tried; disputes between dif¬ 
ferent cities of the empire and other important cases were 
settled; and all ordinary legal business affecting the Athe¬ 
nians themselves was transacted. 

Democracy, then, reached its height in ancient Athens. 


144 The Great Age of the Greek City-States 

The people ruled, and they ruled directly. Every citizen 
had some active part in politics. Such a system worked well 
No repre- i n th e management of a small city-state like 

sentative Athens. It proved to be less successful in the 

government of an empire. The subject commu¬ 
nities of the Delian League were unrepresented at Athens. 
They had no one to speak for them in the Assembly or 
before the popular courts. Their interests, therefore, were 
always put below those of the Athenians. We shall notice 
the same absence of a representative system in republican 
Rome (§ 79). 

Athens contained many skilled workmen, for the city 
formed an important manufacturing center. The average 
rate of wages was very low. In 
spite of cheap food and modest 
industrial requirements for cloth- 

Athens i n g and shelter, it must 

have been difficult for the arti¬ 
san to earn a comfortable living. 
Outside of Athens, in the country 
districts of Attica, lived the peas¬ 
ants, whose farms produced the 
olives, grapes, and figs for which 
Attica was famous. Honey was another important product. 

Athens now formed the chief commercial city of the Greek 
world. “The fruits of the whole earth/’ said Pericles, “flow 
Commercial in upon us; so that we enjoy the goods of other 
Athens countries as freely as of our own.” Exports of 
wine and olive oil, pottery, metal wares, and objects of art 
were sent out from Piraeus to every region of the Mediter¬ 
ranean. The imports from the Black Sea region, Thrace, and 
the TEgean included such commodities as salt, dried fish, 
wool, timber, hides, and, above all, great quantities of wheat. 
Athens was able to feed all her people only by bringing in 
food from abroad. To make sure that in time of war there 
should be no interruption of food supplies, the Athenians 
built the so-called Long Walls between the city and its 



The Olive Harvest 

Painting on a Greek wine jar of 
the sixth century, b.c. 








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Parthenon Mt * Lycabettus 


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ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS FROM THE SOUTHWEST 


































Artistic and Intellectual Athens 


147 


which Pericles applied to Athens in the fifth century b.c.: 
“Our city,” he said, “is equally admirable in peace and in 
war. We are lovers of the beautiful, yet simple The „ school 
in our tastes, and we cultivate the mind with- of Hellas ” 
out loss of manliness. Wealth we employ, not (97 ^ 
for talk and ostentation, but when there is a real use for it. 
To acknowledge poverty with us is no disgrace; the true 
disgrace is in doing nothing to avoid it. An Athenian citizen 
does not neglect the State because he takes care of his own 
household; and even those of us who are engaged in busi¬ 
ness have a very fair idea of politics. We alone regard a 
man who shows no interest in public affairs, not as a harmless, 
but as a useless, character. ... In short, Athens is the 
school of Hellas.” 

Athens represents for us the finest fruits of Greek culture, 
but it must not be forgotten that even this noble city ex¬ 
hibited some of the defects which characterized 

„ T i /- Slavery 

every community m ancient Greece. In the first 
place, Athenian civilization owed much to the existence of 
slavery. The number of slaves was so great and their labor 
so cheap that we may think of them as taking the place of 
modern machines. Slaves did most of the work on large 
estates owned by wealthy men, toiled in mines and quarries, 
and served as oarsmen on ships. The system of slavery 
enabled many an Athenian to lead a life of leisure, but it 
made manual labor seem ignoble and tended to prevent the 
rise of the poorer citizens to positions of responsibility and 
trust. In Greece, as in the Near East (§ 20), slavery cast a 
blight over industrial life. 

In the second place, not all the free men of Athens — to 
say nothing of the slaves — were citizens. The law restricted 
citizenship to those free men who were the sons Clags ^ 
of an Athenian father (himself a citizen) and an 
Athenian mother. The resident aliens could not vote, could 
not buy land in Attica, and could not legally marry Athenian 
wives. The foreign merchants and artisans living in Athens 
or Piraeus were thus excluded from any share in the govern- 


148 The Great Age of the Greek City-States 

ment. This j ealous attitude toward foreigners contrasts with 
the liberal attitude of modern countries, such as our own, 
in naturalizing immigrants. 

Serious as were these defects, they ought not to blind us 
to the splendid contributions which this single city has made 
Real great- to civilization. It is because Athens stood for so 
ness of much that we can keenly realize how great was 
the loss to the world when she was overcome by 
Sparta and compelled to abandon her high position. In the 
words of the historian Thucydides, himself an Athenian of 
Pericles’s time: “Let both places be destroyed, and the mere 
debris of the monuments and temples of Athens will reveal 
a glorious city; the ruins of Sparta will be only those of a 
large village.” 

“Where on the Aegean shore a city stands 
Built nobly, pure the air and light the soil; 

Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts 
And eloquence. ” 


45. The Peloponnesian War 

The brilliant Age of Pericles had not come to an end before 
the two chief powers in the Greek world became involved in a 
contest be- deadly war. It would seem that Athens and 
tween Athens Sparta, the one supreme upon the sea, the other 
and Sparta head 0 f the Peloponnesus, might have 

avoided a contest which was sure to be long and costly. 
But Greek communities were always ready to fight one 
another. When Athens and Sparta found themselves rivals 
for the leadership of Greece, it was easy for the smouldering 
fires of distrust and jealousy to flame forth into open con¬ 
flict. “And at that time,” says an Athenian historian, “the 
youth of Sparta and the youth of Athens were numerous; 
they had never seen war, and were therefore very willing to 
take up arms.” 

The contest was brought on by Corinth, one of the leading 
members of the Peloponnesian League and, next to Athens, 


149 


The Peloponnesian War 

the most important commercial power in Greece. She had 
already seen her once-profitable trade in the JEge an monopo¬ 
lized by Athens. That energetic city was now origin of the 
reaching out for Corinthian commerce in Italian contest 
and Sicilian waters. When the Athenians went so far as to 
interfere in a quarrel between Corinth and her colony of Cor- 
cyra (modern Corfu), even allying themselves with the latter 
city, the Corinthians felt justly resentful and appealed to 
Sparta for aid. The Spartans listened to their appeal and, 
with the apparent approval of the Delphic oracle which 
assured them “that they would conquer if they fought with 
all their might,” declared war. 

The war began in 431 B.c. Its first stage was indecisive. 
The Athenians avoided a conflict in the open field with the 
stronger Peloponnesian army, which ravaged First stage of 
Attica. They were crippled almost at the out- the war 
set of the struggle by a terrible plague among the refugees 
from Attica, crowded behind the Long Walls. The pestilence 
slew at least one-fourth of the inhabitants of Athens, in¬ 
cluding Pericles himself. After ten years of fighting both 
sides grew weary of the war and made a treaty of peace 
to last for fifty years. 

Not long after the conclusion of peace the Athenians were 
persuaded by a brilliant and ambitious politician, named 
Alcibiades, to undertake an expedition against The Sicilian 
Syracuse in Sicily. This city was a colony of Expedition, 
Corinth, and hence was a natural ally of the 415-413 B - c - 
Peloponnesian states. The Athenians, by conquering it, 
expected to establish their power in Sicily. The siege of 
Syracuse ended in a complete failure. The Athenians could 
not capture the city, and in a great naval battle they lost 
their fleet. They then tried to retreat by land, but soon 
had to surrender. Many of the prisoners were sold as 
slaves; many were thrown by their inhuman captors into 
the stone quarries near Syracuse, where they perished from 
exposure and starvation. The Athenians “were absolutely 
annihilated — both army and fleet — and of the many thou- 


150 The Great Age of the Greek City-States 

sands, who went away only a handful ever saw their homes 
again.” 

Athens never recovered from this terrible blow. The 
Spartans quickly renewed the contest, now with the highest 
Last stage of hopes of success. The Athenians had to guard 
the war their city against the invader night and day; 
their slaves deserted to the enemy; and they themselves 
could do no farming except under the walls of the city. 
For supplies they had to depend entirely on their ships. 
Nevertheless, the Athenians kept up the struggle for nearly 
ten years. Finally, the Spartans captured the Athenian 
fleet near A^gospotami on the Dardanelles. This victory 
enabled them to blockade the port of Piraeus and to besiege 
Athens. Bitter famine then compelled the Athenians to 
sue for peace. The Spartans imposed harsh terms. The 
Athenians were obliged to destroy their Long Walls and 
the fortifications of Piraeus, to surrender all but twelve of 
their warships, and to acknowledge the supremacy of Sparta. 
The war thus ended in 404 B.c. 

46. The Spartan and Theban Supremacies 

Sparta was now the undisputed leader of continental 
Greece and of the Aegean. As the representative of the 
spartan des- liberty-loving Greeks she had humbled the pride 
potism and power of “tyrant” Athens. A great oppor¬ 
tunity lay before her to reorganize the Greek world and to 
end the struggles for supremacy between rival cities. Sparta 
entered upon no such glorious career. She had always stood 
as the champion of aristocracy against democracy, and now 
in her hour of triumph she began to overturn every demo¬ 
cratic government that still existed in Greece. The Greek 
cities soon found that they had exchanged the mild sway of 
Athens for the brutal despotism of Sparta. 

Spartan despotism provoked resistance. It was the Boeo¬ 
tian city of Thebes which raised the standard of revolt. Some 
of the liberty-loving Thebans, headed by Pelopidas, a patri- 


The Spartan and Theban Supremacies 151 

otic noble, formed a conspiracy to drive the Spartans out 
of the city. Disguised as huntsmen, Pelopidas and his fol¬ 
lowers entered Thebes at nightfall, killed the The freeing 
tyrants whom Sparta had set over the people, of Thebes 
and forced the Spartan garrison to surrender. As a Greek 
historian relates, “the Spartans were punished by the very 
men, single-handed, whom they had wronged, though never 
before had they been vanquished by any single people. It 
is a proof that the gods observe men who do irreligious and 
unhallowed deeds.” 

The Thebans had now recovered their independence. A 
few years later they totally defeated a superior Pelopon¬ 
nesian force at the battle of Leuctra and brought Battle of 
the supremacy of Sparta to an end. This engage- Leuctra, 371 
ment, from a military standpoint, is one of B ' c * 
the most interesting in ancient history. Epaminondas, the 
skillful Theban commander, massed his best troops in a 
solid column, fifty men deep, and hurled it with terrific 
force against the Spartan ranks. The enemy, drawn up 
twelve men deep in the customary formation, could not 
withstand the impact of the Theban column; their lines 
gave way, and the fight was soon won. This device of con¬ 
centrating the attack upon a single point of the enemy’s line 
was further developed in the Macedonian phalanx (§ 48). 

The sudden rise of Thebes to the position of the first city 
in Greece was the work of two men. Their names are always 
linked together in the history of the time. Pelop- Pelopidas 
idas was a fiery warrior whose bravery and dar- and 
ing won the hearts of his soldiers. At Leuctra E P aminondas 
he led into battle the famous Sacred Band, a “crack” regi¬ 
ment of three hundred young men, chosen from the noblest 
families and distinguished for strength and endurance. They 
stood in front of the other soldiers, prepared to fight and 
fall together. Pelopidas was the right hand of Thebes, but 
Epaminondas was her brain. A philosopher, a brilliant 
orator, a bold, shrewd diplomatist, he was also the first 
general of the age, as Leuctra showed. His great abilities, 


152 The Great Age of the Greek City-States 

combined with a pure and noble character, give him a high 
place among the heroes of ancient Greece. 

The Greek states, which had accepted the leadership of 
Athens and Sparta, were unwilling to admit the claims of 
Battle of Thebes to a position of equal power and im- 
Mantinea, portance. The period of Theban supremacy was 
362 b.c. therefore filled with constant fighting. Nine 

years after the battle of Leuctra the Thebans met the 
Spartans and their allies at Mantinea in the Peloponnesus. 
Epaminondas repeated the tactics of Leuctra with all his 
former success, but the great leader himself was mortally 
wounded. He suffered much, we are told, but with his 
hand pressed to the wound, he kept looking hard at the 
fight. When the combat ended indecisively, he took his 
hand from the wound and breathed his last, and they 
buried him on the battlefield. The loss of Epaminondas 
was for the Thebans irreparable; it meant the collapse of 
their city as the chief power in Greece. 


47. Decline of the City-States 

The patriotic Greeks, during the Persian wars, achieved 
a temporary union and fought valiantly, successfully, in a 
Disunion of common cause. When all danger from Persia 
the Greeks was removed, it became impossible to continue 
a working system of federation. The old hostility between 
rival communities arose again in full vigor. The Greek 
people, whose unity of blood, language, religion, and customs 
should have welded them into one nation, continued to be 
divided into independent and often hostile city-states. 

The history of Greece, after the Persian wars, is, there¬ 
fore, a record of almost ceaseless conflict. We have seen 
Conflicts that Greece came to be split up into two great 
between the alliances, the one a naval league ruled by Athens, 
the other a confederacy of Peloponnesian cities 
under the leadership of Sparta. How the Delian League 
became the Athenian Empire; how Sparta began a long war 


153 


Decline of the City-States 

with Athens to secure the independence of the subject 
states and ended it by making them subject to herself; 
how the rough-handed sway of Sparta led to the revolt 
of her allies and dependencies and the sudden rise of Thebes 
to supremacy; how Thebes herself established her sway 
on the ruins of Spartan rule — this is a story of fruitless 
and exhausting struggles which sounded the knell of Greek 
liberty and the decline of the city-states. 

Far away in the north, remote from the noisy conflicts 
of Greek political life, a new power was slowly rising to 
imperial greatness — no insignificant city-state, Greece and 
but an extensive territorial state like those of Macedonia 
modern times. Three years after the battle of Mantinea 
Philip II ascended the throne of Macedonia. He established 
Greek unity by bringing the Greek peoples within a widely 
ruling empire. Alexander the Great, the son of this king, 
carried Macedonian dominion and Greek culture through¬ 
out the Near East. The work of these two men will be con¬ 
sidered in the following chapter. 


Scythians 

Ionian Revolt 

Mardonius 

Marathon 

Miltiades 

Aristides 

Themistocles 

Sardis 

Thermopylae 

Leonidas 


For Explanation 


Salamis 

Plataea 

Piraeus 

Delian League 

Cimon 

Pericles 

Athenian Assembly 
Ten Generals 
jury courts 
Long Walls 


Acropolis 

Corinth 

Alcibiades 

Sicilian Expedition 

iEgospotami 

Thebes 

Pelopidas 

Epaminondas 

Leuctra 

Mantinea 


For Discussion 

1. What was the significance of the Scythian expedition of Darius I? 

2. What do you understand by a “decisive” battle? Why has Marathon 
been considered such a battle? 

3. Comment on the importance of sea-power in the Persian wars. 

4. What did the Greeks mean by calling the Persians “barbarians”? 


154 The Great Age of the Greek City-States 

Was Persia a truly barbarous country at the time it threatened the 
liberty of Greece? 

5. With what other national struggles for freedom may the Persian wars 
be compared? 

6. Why did Delos become the center of the Delian League? 

7. Were the Athenians justified in using force to compel revolting cities 
to remain in the Delian League? 

8. Compare the relations of the Delian subject cities to Athens with those 
of British colonies, such as Canada and Australia, to Great Britain. 

9. Did the popular assembly of Athens have any resemblance to a New 
England town meeting? 

10. The Athenian democracy of the time of Pericles has been described 
as a pure democracy and not, like the American, as a representative 
democracy. In what lies the difference? 

11. How far can the expression “government of the people, by the people, 
for the people” be applied to the Athenian democracy? 

12. If the Athenian Empire could have rested on a representative basis, 
why would it have been more likely to endure? 

13. Justify Pericles’s description of Athens as the “school of Hellas.” 

14. Why has the Peloponnesian War been called an “irrepressible con¬ 
flict”? Why has it been called the “suicide of Greece”? 

15. Why is a man like Alcibiades a dangerous leader for a democracy in a 
time of crisis? 

16. Why was the rule of Sparta more oppressive than that of Athens? 

17. Account for the failure of the Athenian, Spartan, and Theban attempts 
at political supremacy? 

18. Might some system of federation have prevented so many civil wars 
between the Greek city-states? What difficulties stood in the way of 
federation? 

For Further Study 

1. Name the events connected with the following dates : 490 B.c. , 480 b.c., 
431 b.c., 404 b.c., and 362 B.c. 

2. Look up in an encyclopedia an account of the campaign of the Greek 
army in Asia Minor in 1921 and compare it with the Ionian Revolt. 

3. Make a comparison (arranging your statements in separate columns) 
of the two antagonists, Persia and Greece, with special reference to 
(a) territory, ( b ) population, (c) government, (d) military power, 
(e) wealth, and (/) civilization. 

4. Hold a debate, supposedly in the Athenian Assembly, between two 
students representing Aristides and Themistocles. The subject: 
How best to meet the Persians — on land or on the sea? 

5. Trace the routes followed by the Persian fleets in the three expeditions 


Decline of the City-States 155 

against Greece (map, page 130). Trace also the route of Xerxes’s 
army from Sardis to Athens. 

6. Read Browning’s poem, Pheidippides. What does it tell about the 
origin of the “Marathon race”? 

7. Distinguish between the allied and the dependent states of the Athe¬ 
nian Empire (map, page 145). 

8. Write an essay (400 words) on the life and services to Athens of 
Pericles. 

9. Prepare an oral report on the later history and present condition of 
the Parthenon. 

Supplementary 

Webster, Readings in Early European History, chapter vii, “Xerxes and 
the Persian Invasion of Greece”; chapter viii, “Episodes from the 
Peloponnesian War”; chapter ix, “Alcibiades the Athenian.” 

Webster and Webb, Historical Outline Maps and Exercises: Early European 
History, No. V, The Persian Wars; No. VI, The Athenian Empire and 
the Peloponnesian War. 


ITOIAt 

E OK* 


?MO 1 1" A l#M>| | u a ’ 

Vs I TE YE A AN Q A E 

e i hie r< fz a me £a o enaa£t e, 

k E *<r P o N T A a P A * /AA£ 

pe rj> a/A^S rEMT H i £ 


n o a ( 


A o h AMuTO £ K iyi A' A f< 


A |!|< aAAkP ET-A< I T 
NO^MHNOiTH I I f~T 
yr ht EH K 


An Athenian Inscription 

A decree of the Council and Assembly, dating from about 450 b.c. 



CHAPTER VII 


MINGLING OF EAST AND WEST 


The seed-ground of European civilization is neither Greece nor the 
Orient, but a world joined of the two. 


— B. I. Wheeler 


For any one who is interested in exploring the history of European 
civilization and finding out how the past is stored in the present, this 
period of Hellenism may be said in a certain way to count more than the 
age of the independent city-states; for it was through this period that the 
earlier age exerted its influence. 

— J. B. Bury 


48. Philip and the Expansion of Macedonia 

The people of Macedonia seem to have been Greek in 
blood and language. No doubt they formed an offshoot 
The Mace- of those northern invaders who had entered the 
donians Balkan peninsula before the dawn of history 
(§ 33). The Macedonian kings, from the era of the Persian 
wars, seized every opportunity of spreading Greek culture 
throughout their realm. By the middle of the fourth century 
b.c. the Macedonians were ready to take a leading place in 
the Greek world. It was the work of Philip II, who came to 
the throne in 359 b.c., to achieve this destiny for his people. 

Philip of Macedonia, one of the most remarkable men of 
antiquity, was endowed with a vigorous body, a keen mind, 

Philip ii anc * a reso ^ ute w ^* He was no stranger to 
Greece and its ways. Part of his boyhood had 
been passed as a hostage at Thebes in the days of Theban 
glory. His residence there gave him an insight into Greek 
politics and taught him the art of war as it had been per¬ 
fected by Epaminondas. In the distracted condition of 
Greece, worn out by the rivalries of contending cities, Philip 

156 


Philip and the Expansion of Macedonia 157 

saw the opportunity of his own country. He aimed to secure 
for Macedonia the position of supremacy which neither 
Athens, Sparta, nor Thebes had been able to hold perma¬ 



nently. To put Macedonia at the head of Greece formed the 
abiding purpose of his life. 

Philip’s most important achievement was the creation of 
the Macedonian army, which he led to the conquest of Greece 
and which his son was to lead to the conquest of The Mace- 
the world. Taking a hint from the tactics of donianarmy 
Epaminondas, Philip trained his infantry to fight by columns, 
but with sufficient intervals between the files to permit quick 
and easy movements. Each man bore an enormous lance, 












































158 


Mingling of East and West 

about twenty-one feet in length. When this heavy phalanx 
was set in array, the weapons carried by the soldiers in the 
first five ranks presented a bristling thicket of lance-points, 
which no onset, however determined, could penetrate. The 
business of the phalanx was to keep the front of the foe 
engaged, while horsemen rode into the enemy’s flanks. This 
reliance on masses of cavalry to win a victory was some¬ 
thing new in warfare. Another novel feature consisted in 
the use of engines called catapults, able to throw darts and 
huge stones three hundred yards, and of battering rams 
with force enough to hurl down the walls of cities. All 
these different arms working together made the most for¬ 
midable war machine then in the ancient world. 

Philip commanded a fine army; he ruled with absolute 
sway a territory larger than any Greek state; and he 
Conquests himself possessed a genius for both war and 
of Philip diplomacy. With such advantages the Mace¬ 
donian king entered on the subjugation of disunited Greece. 
His first great success was won in western Thrace. Here 
he founded the city of Philippi and seized some rich gold 
mines, the income from which enabled him to keep his 
soldiers always under arms, to fit out a fleet, and, by means 
of liberal bribes, to hire a crowd of agents in nearly every 
Greek city. Philip next made Macedonia a maritime state 
by subduing the Greek cities on the peninsula of Chalcidice, 
which projects like a three-fingered hand into the Aegean. 
He also appeared in Thessaly, occupied its principal for¬ 
tresses, and brought the frontier of Macedonia as far south 
as the Pass of Thermopylae. 

49. Demosthenes and the End of Greek Freedom 

Philip for many years had been steadily extending his 
sway over Greece. In the face of his encroachments would 
Demosthenes Athens, Sparta, and Thebes, so long the leading 
cities, submit tamely to this Macedonian con¬ 
queror? There was one man, at least, who realized the 


Demosthenes and the End of Greek Freedom 159 


danger from Philip and who stood forth as the champion 
of Greek freedom. That man was Demosthenes. 

Demosthenes was the last, as well as the most famous, 
of the great Athenian orators. When he first began to 
speak, the citizens laughed at his long, involved Demosth enes 
sentences, over-rapid delivery, and awkward as an orator 
bearing. Friends encouraged him to persist, anda P atnot 
assuring him that, if the manner of his speeches was bad, 
their matter was worthy of Pericles. Numerous stories are 
told of the efforts made by Demosthenes to overcome his 
natural defects. He practiced gesturing before a mirror and, 
to correct a stammering pronunciation, recited verses with 
pebbles in his mouth. He would go down to the seashore 
during storms and strive to make his voice heard above 
the roar of wind and waves, in order the better to face the 
boisterous Assembly. Before long he came to be regarded 
as the prince of speakers even in the city of orators. His 
powerful addresses, it was said, could “lift the souls of 
hearers from their hinges.” Demosthenes was a man cast 
in the old heroic mold. His patriotic imagination had been 
fired by the great deeds once accomplished by free Greeks. 
Athens he loved with passionate devotion. Let her re¬ 
member her ancient glories, he urged, and, by withstanding 
Philip, become the leader of Greece in a second war for 
freedom. This was the theme of all his speeches against the 
Macedonian king, some of which are therefore known as 
Philippics. 

The stirring appeals of the great orator at first had little 
effect. There were many friends of Philip in the Greek 
states, even in Athens itself. When, however, Battle of 
Philip entered central Greece and threatened the chaeronea, 

• i A i 338 B C 

independence of its cities, the eloquence of De¬ 
mosthenes met a readier response. Thebes and Athens at 
last gave up their rivalry and formed a defensive alliance 
against Philip. The decisive battle was fought at Chaeronea 
in Bceotia. The well-drilled and seasoned troops of Mace¬ 
donia, headed by a master of the art of war, overcame 


160 


Mingling of East and West 

the citizen levies of Greece. The Greeks fought bravely to 
the last, and their defeat was not inglorious. One may 
still see near the modern town of Chaeronea the marble 
lion set up as a memorial to those who fell in the battle. 

The victory at Chaeronea assured Macedonian supremacy 
over Greece. Philip, however, did not proceed to play the 
Philip’s policy tyrant. Thebes, indeed, he compelled to admit 
as conqueror a Macedonian garrison to the citadel, but Athens 
he treated mildly and even allowed that city to retain a few 
possessions outside of Attica. He now proceeded to organize 
a Panhellenic union, consisting of all the states on the main¬ 
land, except Sparta, and of those on the principal islands 
of the Aegean. The members were to be independent and 
self-governing, with a federal congress in which each one 
was to be represented according to its population. Philip’s 
measures were evidently those of a statesman anxious to end 
Greek disunion and to substitute peaceful relations for the 
suicidal warfare between cities and groups of cities. 

Philip’s restless energy soon drove him forward to the 
next step in his ambitious program. He determined to 
Congress of carry out the plans, long cherished by the Greeks, 
Corinth, for the conquest of Asia Minor and, perhaps, 
even of Persia. A congress of the Greek states, 
which met at Corinth under Philip’s presidency, voted to 
supply ships and men for the undertaking and placed him 
in command of the allied forces. A Macedonian king was 
to be the captain-general of Greece. 

Philip, however, never led an army into Asia Minor. Less 
than two years after the battle of Chaeronea an assassin’s 
Death of dagger laid him low, while he was celebrating 

Philip, the marriage feast of his daughter. This was 

the end of the strong man who had made Mace¬ 
donia the most powerful military state in the world. The 
scepter and the power now passed to his son Alexander. We 
shall now learn that Alexander was one of the foremost, 
perhaps the first, of the great military leaders of antiquity. 
We shall learn, too, that he was a great statesman. 


Alexander the Great 


161 


50. Alexander the Great 

Alexander became king of Macedonia when only twenty 
years of age. He had his father’s vigorous body, keen mind, 
and resolute will. His mother, a proud and The youthful 
ambitious woman, told him that the blood of Alexander 
Achilles ran in his veins and bade him emulate the deeds of 
that national hero. We know that he learned the Iliad by 
heart and always carried a 
copy of it on his campaigns. 

The youthful Alexander de¬ 
veloped into a splendid athlete, 
skillful in all the sports of his 
rough-riding companions, and 
trained in every warlike exer¬ 
cise. 

With Alexander the boy 
was father to the man, if we 

may trust the an- Anecdotes of 
ecdotes about him Alexander 
told by the Greek bjpgrapher, 

Plutarch. His fearless charac¬ 
ter showed itself when, a lad 
of twelve, he tamed the fiery 
horse Bucephalus, which none 
dared ride. “My son,” said Philip, as the young Alexander 
came galloping up, with pride and joy in his face, “seek a 
kingdom suited to your powers; Macedonia is too small for 
you.” Alexander’s desire for fame and glory was revealed 
in the complaint made to his playmates when news came 
of Philip’s victories: “My father will get ahead Of us in 
everything; he will leave no great task for me to share with 
you.” 

The situation which Alexander faced on his accession 
might well have dismayed a less dauntless spirit. Philip 
had not lived long enough to unite firmly his wide domin¬ 
ions. His unexpected death was the signal for uprisings and 



Alexander the Great 

After a medallion found at Tarsus in Asia 
Minor. 


162 


Mingling of East and West 


Alexander 
crushes re¬ 
bellion 


disorder. The barbarous Thracians broke out in widespread 
rebellion, and the Greeks made ready to answer the call of 
Demosthenes to arms. Alexander soon set his 
kingdom in order. After crushing the tribes of 
Thrace, he descended on Greece and besieged 
Thebes, which had risen against its Macedonian garrison. 
The city was soon captured; its inhabitants were slaughtered 
or sold into slavery; and the place itself was destroyed. 
The terrible fate of Thebes induced the other states to 
submit without further resistance. 

Having quelled the turbulent Greeks, Alexander could 
now proceed to the invasion of the Persian Empire. That 
The Persian empire had remained almost intact since the 
Empire time G f Darius I (§ 17). It formed a huge, 
loosely knit collection of many different peoples, whose sole 
bond of union was their common allegiance to the Great 
King. Its resources in men and money were enormous. 
Yet it was a hollow shell. 

Some seventy years before Alexander set forth on his 
expedition the Greeks had witnessed a remarkable disclosure 
Expedition of of the military weakness # of Persia. One of 
Younger ,*\oi those rare revolts which troubled the security 
b.c. of the Persian Empire broke out in Asia Minor. 

It was headed by Cyrus the Younger, a brother of the 
Persian monarch. Cyrus gathered a large body of native 
troops and also hired about thirteen thousand Greek soldiers. 
He led this mixed force into the heart of the Persian do¬ 
minions, only to fall in battle at Cunaxa, near Babylon. 
The Greeks easily routed the enemy arrayed against them, 
but the death of Cyrus and the flight of his native soldiers 
made their victory fruitless. 

The Greeks now faced a desperate situation. They found 
themselves stranded in Babylonia, hundreds of miles from 
Retreat of the sea, and without a guide to show them the 
the “ Ten way home. Their generals were entrapped and 
Thousand murdered, but in a hurried night meeting the 
soldiers chose new leaders and began to retreat northward 


Alexander the Great 


163 


along the banks of the Tigris River. The enemy dogged 
their footsteps, yet never ventured on a pitched battle. 
The Greeks finally left the plains and plunged into the 
mountains of Armenia. Here their advance was no easier, 
for the fierce hill tribes blocked the passes, rolled down 
stones upon the soldiers from the heights, and burnt the 
villages where they might have found rest and food. When 
winter came on, the Greeks had to march through miles 



of snowdrifts and suffered frightfully from the cold. Yet 
the little army kept up its courage and its discipline, pushed 
steadily forward, and at last gained a mountain ridge where 
there was sight of the Black Sea. A joyful shout, “The 
sea! the sea!” spread from rank to rank, for the soldiers 
felt that at last they were nearing home. A few days 
more brought them to the Greek city of Trapezus, after 
a year of wandering and a journey of a thousand miles. 

The story of this invasion of Persia and the subsequent 
retreat was written by the Athenian Xenophon (§61) in his 
Anabasis. It is one of the most interesting books that have 























164 


Mingling of East and West 

come down to us from antiquity. We can judge from it how 
vivid was the impression which the adventures of the “Ten 
significance of Thousand” made on the Greeks of Xenophon’s 
the expedition time. A small army had marched to the center 
of the Persian dominions, had overcome a host many times 
its size, and had returned to Greece in safety. It was clear 
proof that the Persian power, however imposing on the out¬ 
side, could offer no effective resistance to an attack by a 
strong force of disciplined Greek soldiers. 

51. Conquest of the Near East 

Alexander’s invasion began in 334 B.c., when he led an 
army of about forty thousand men, both Macedonians and 
Battle of the Greeks, across the Dardanelles and into Asia 
Granicus, 334 Minor. He landed not far from the historic 
plain of Troy, visited this site made famous by 
his legendary ancestor, Achilles, and then started on his 
march along the coast. Near the little river Granicus the 
Persian governors had gathered an army to dispute his 
passage. Alexander at once led his cavalry across the river 
in an impetuous charge, which soon sent the enemy in head¬ 
long flight. The victory cost the Macedonians scarcely a 
hundred men; but it was complete. As Alexander passed 
southward, town after town opened its gates — first Sardis, 
next Ephesus, then all the other cities of Ionia. Asia Minor 
was a Macedonian possession within a year. 

Meanwhile, Darius III, the Persian king, had assembled 
a large army and had advanced to the narrow plain of 
Battle of Issus, between the Syrian mountains and the 

issus, 333 sea. Superiority in numbers counted for noth¬ 

ing in such cramped quarters. The battle be¬ 
came a massacre, and only the approach of night stayed 
the swords of the victorious Macedonians. A great quantity 
of booty, and even the mother, wife, and children of Darius, 
fell into Alexander’s hands. He treated his royal captives 
kindly, but refused to make peace with the Persian king. 


165 


Conquest of the Near East 

The next step was to subdue the Phoenician city of Tyre, 
the headquarters of Persia’s naval power. The city lay on 
a rocky island, half a mile from the shore. Its capture of 
fortifications rose one hundred feet above the Tyre 
waves. Although the place seemed impregnable, Alexander 
was able to capture it after he had built a mole, or cause¬ 
way, between the shore and the island. Powerful siege 
engines then breached the walls, the Macedonians poured 
in, and Tyre fell by storm. Thousands of its inhabitants 



The Alexander Mosaic 


Naples Museum 

This splendid mosaic, composed of pieces of colored glass, was originally laid at Alexan¬ 
dria. It was found, somewhat damaged, in 1831 in the pavement of a Roman house at 
Pompeii, Italy. The picture represents the critical moment in the battle of Issus, when 
Alexander (on horseback at the left) launches the Macedonian cavalry at the Persian 
center, where Darius III stands in his chariot. The Great King wears the characteristic 
Persian headdress, with cheek pieces fastening under the chin. The royal charioteer 
lashes his three horses, in order that Darius may escape. A Persian noble, meanwhile, 
has dismounted and is offering his riderless horse to the king. Other Persian nobles are 
fighting desperately about their lord, and one of them has already been transfixed by 
Alexander’s spear. Darius sees what has happened and throws up his hand in horror at 
the deed. The mosaic is probably a copy of a fourth-century Greek painting. 

perished and thousands more were sold into slavery. The 
great emporium of the Near East became a heap of ruins. 

From Tyre, Alexander led his ever-victorious army through 
Palestine into Egypt. The Persian officials there put up no 
resistance, and the Egyptians themselves wel- Alexander 
corned Alexander as a deliverer. He entered in Egypt 
Memphis in triumph and then sailed down the Nile to its 











































166 


Mingling of East and West 

western mouth. Here he laid the foundations of Alexandria, 
to replace Tyre as a commercial metropolis. Another march 
brought Alexander to the borders of Libya. He now received 
the submission of Cyrene, the most important Greek 
colony in North Africa (§ 38). 

Having thus secured the Mediterranean coast lands, Alex¬ 
ander returned to Asia, crossed the Euphrates and Tigris 
Battle of Ar- rivers, and, on a broad plain not far from the 
beia, 331 b.c. ru i ns G f ancient Nineveh (§ 16), found himself 
confronted by the Persian host. All the force of the Near 
East was set forth in array — the Great King with a guard 
of Persian nobles holding the center, a strong body of Greek 
mercenaries, myriads of horsemen and foot-soldiers gathered 
from every quarter of the empire, and even huge elephants 
and scythe-armed chariots. The Persians spent the night 
before the battle under arms. When the Macedonians be¬ 
held all the plain’aglow with camp-fires and heard the con¬ 
fused sound of voices like the distant roar of the ocean, 
they were amazed at the multitude of the enemy. One 
of their leaders, hastening to Alexander, begged him to 
attack at once, under the cover of darkness. It was rash 
advice, for then the iron Macedonian discipline would have 
counted for nothing. ‘ ‘ I steal no victory,’’ replied the gallant 
yet prudent prince. The conflict next morning was fiercely 
disputed. Darius held an excellent position and hoped to 
crush his foe by sheer weight of numbers. But nothing could 
stop the Macedonian onset; once more Darius fled away, 
and once more the Persians, deserted by their king, broke 
up in hopeless rout. 

The battle of Arbela decided the fate of the Persian 
Empire. It remained only to gather the fruits of victory. 
End of the Babylon surrendered to him without a struggle. 
Persian Susa, with its enormous treasure, fell into the 
Empire conqueror’s hands. Persepolis, the old Persian 
capital, was given up to fire and sword. Darius himself, as 
he retreated eastward, was murdered by his own men. The 
national war of Greece against Persia now came to an end. 



anubC' 


&&P 0NlA \ r ftg. 




:ONU 


PPADOCU 1 


\ BACTRlA^i 
v, Balkh 

V' (BaetraJ. 


°\ ? ip>\ A T be !5_^ 

ijj] syriI^J V\f b H tana <r 

7k/ Damascu^VST ?/ 


\ PARTH 1 A J 


'-Ml j A 


SusVi } } 

SlfSIANA) \ \ V 1 

^ ..N^PE RSlA carman I a 


/ rKandah^ 

L^’arachosia 


1 Mysia \ 

2 Lydia 

3 Caria 

4 Thessaly 

5 Epirus 

Scale of Miles 

0 100 200 300 400 600 


THE M.-N. WORKS. BUFFALO, N.Y, 


Longitude 


East 


from 


Greenwich 


EMPIRE OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT, 336-323 B. C. 


| j Under Alexander | 1 Allied States 


Independent States 


Route of Alexander 



THE KINGDOMS OF ALEXANDER’S SUCCESSORS ABOUT 200 B. C. 


Kingdom of the (-1 Kingdom of the j- 1 Macedonian 

Seleucids >- 1 Ptolemies 1 - 1 Kingdom 


Route of Nearclius 


































































































168 


Mingling of East and West 

The Macedonians had overrun all the Persian territories 
except distant Iran and India. These regions were peopled 
Conquest by warlike tribes of a very different stamp from 
of Iran the now effeminate Persians. Alexander might 
well have been content to have left them undisturbed, but the 
man could never rest while there were still conquests to be 
made. Long marches and many hard battles were required 
to subdue the tribes about the Caspian and the inhabitants 
of the countries now known as Afghanistan and Turkestan. 

Crossing the lofty barrier of the Hindu-Kush, Alexander 
led his soldiers into northwestern India. Here a single battle 
conquest of added the Persian province of the Punjab (§ 12) 
northern to the Macedonian possessions. Alexander then 
India pressed forward to the conquest of the Ganges 

Valley, but in the full tide of victory his weary soldiers 
refused to go any farther. They had had their fill of war 
and martial glory; they would conquer no more lands for 
their ambitious king. Alexander gave with reluctance the 
order for the homeward march. 

Alexander was of too adventurous a disposition to return 
by the way he had come. He built a navy on the Indus 
Alexander’s and had it accompany the army down the river, 
return Having reached the mouth of the Indus, Alex¬ 

ander then dispatched the fleet under his admiral, Nearchus, 
to explore the sea route to the head of the Persian Gulf and 
the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. He himself 
brought back what remained of his army by a long and toil¬ 
some march through the deserts of southern Iran (modern 
Baluchistan). 1 

Alexander’s meteoric career was now almost over. In the 
spring of the year 323 b.c. he went to Babylon, which he 
Death of had ma de the capital of his vast empire. Here he 

Alexander, was struck down by a fever, which soon proved 

to be fatal. As he lay dying, the Macedonian 
army, man by man, was allowed to pass through his chamber 
to bid farewell to its beloved leader. After a few days of 
1 See the map, page 167. 


The Work of Alexander the Great 


169 


wasting illness the conqueror of so much of the ancient 
world passed away, being not quite thirty-three years of age. 

52. The Work of Alexander the Great 

The immediate result of Alexander’s conquests was the 
disappearance of the barriers which had so long shut in the 
Oriental world. The Near East, until his day, The Greeks 
was an almost unknown land. It now lay open in the 0rient 
to the spread of Greek civilization. In the wake of the 
Macedonian armies followed Greek philosophers and scien¬ 
tists, Greek architects and artists, Greek colonists, merchants, 
and artisans. Everywhere into that huge, inert, unprogres¬ 
sive Oriental world came the active and enterprising men 
of Greece. They brought their arts and culture and became 
the teachers of those whom they had called “barbarians.” 

The ultimate result of Alexander’s conquests was the fusion 
of East and West. He realized that his new empire must 
contain a place for Oriental, as well as for Greek Fusion of 
and Macedonian, subjects. It was Alexander’s East and 
aim, therefore, to build up a new state where the West 
distinction between the European and the Asiatic should 
gradually pass away. He welcomed Persian nobles to his 
court and placed them in positions of trust and honor. He 
organized the government of his provinces on a system which 
resembled that of Darius I (§ 17). He trained thousands of 
Persian soldiers to replace the worn-out veterans in his 
armies. He encouraged by liberal dowries mixed marriages 
between Macedonians and Orientals and himself wedded the 
daughter of the last Persian king. To hold his dominions 
together and provide a meeting place for both classes of his 
subjects, he founded no less than seventy cities in Egypt, 
western Asia, central Asia, and even India. Such measures 
as these show that Alexander had a mind of wide, even 
cosmopolitan, sympathies. 

With Alexander the Great the history of Greece begins 
to merge into the history of the ancient world. We now 


170 


Mingling of East and West 


follow, not the development of a single people, but the 
After gradual spread of Greek customs and ideas and, 

Alexander j n turn, their modification by contact with those 
of the Near East. Purely Greek, or Hellenic, culture became 
in this way Hellenistic culture. 



53. Hellenistic Kingdoms and Cities 

The half century following Alexander’s death is a confused 
and troubled period in ancient history. The king had left no 
legitimate son — no one with an un¬ 
disputed title to the succession. On 
The three his deathbed Alexander 

great king- had himself declared that 

doms the realm should go “to 

the strongest.” It was certain, under 
these circumstances, that his posses¬ 
sions would become the prey of the 
leading Macedonian generals. The 
unwieldy empire at length broke in 
pieces. Out of the fragments arose 
three great states, namely, Mace¬ 
donia, Egypt, and Syria. The king¬ 
dom of Macedonia was ruled by the 
dynasty of the Antigonids, who were 
descended from Antigonus, one of 
Alexander’s generals. The kingdom 
of Egypt was ruled by the Ptolemies, descended from another 
general, Ptolemy. Seleucus, still another general, founded 
the kingdom of Syria and the dynasty of the Seleucids. 
These three kingdoms remained independent until the era 
of Roman conquest in the Near East (§ 78). 

Several small states also arose from the break-up of Alex- 
Minor inde- ander’s empire. Each had its royal dynasty, its 
pendent capital city, and its own national life. The con¬ 
quests of Alexander, instead of establishing a 
world power under one ruler, thus led to the destruction of 


A Greek Cameo 

Museum, Vienna 
A large gem cut in sardonyx; 
third century b.c. It repre¬ 
sents Alexander and his mother 
Olympias, or, according to 
another interpretation, Ptolemy 
Philadelphus, king of Egypt, 
and his wife Arsinoe. 


Hellenistic Kingdoms and Cities 


171 


the unity of government which Persia had given to the 
Near East. 

The growth of new cities, as in Eifrope and America to-day, 
was a noteworthy feature of the age. Some were merely 
garrison towns in the heart of remote provinces Growth of 
or outposts along the frontiers, but many more new cities 
were busy marts of trade and industry and the real seats of 
Greek influence in 



the Near East. 

These new foun¬ 
dations were quite 

unlike Nature of the 
the old new cities 

Greek cities. They 
were not free and 
independent, but 
made a part of the 
kingdom in which 
they were situated 
and paid tribute or 
taxes to its ruler. 

The inhabitants 
included Macedo¬ 
nians and Greeks, 
who formed the 
governing class, together with native artisans and mer¬ 
chants. The cities had broad streets, sometimes well paved, 
a good water supply, and public halls, courts of justice, 
libraries, theaters, and gymnasiums. These edifices, like 
those of Egypt and Babylonia, were of imposing architecture. 
Such splendid cities formed the backbone of Hellenistic 
culture in the Near East. 

The foremost Hellenistic city was Alexandria. It lay 
on a strip of flat, sandy land separating Lake Mareotis 
from the Mediterranean. On the one side was Alexandria 
the lake-harbor, connected with the Nile; on the 
other side were two sea-harbors, sheltered from the open 


Plan of Alexandria at the Time of Christ 

The modern city lies partly on the dike, or mole, nearly 
a mile long, which the Ptolemies built to connect the main¬ 
land with the island of Pharos. The accumulation of silt 
during the centuries has enlarged the mole into an isthmus, 
half a mile wide, so that Pharos is no longer an island. 










172 


Mingling of East and West 

sea by the long and narrow island of Pharos. The city pos¬ 
sessed a magnificent site for commerce. It occupied the 
most central position thfet could be found in the ancient 
world with respect to the three continents, Africa, Asia, and 
Europe. The inhabitants included not only Egyptians, 
Greeks, and Macedonians, but also Jews, Syrians, Babylo¬ 
nians, and other Orientals. The population increased rapidly, 
and by the time of Christ, Alexandria ranked next in size to 
imperial Rome. 

The chief city in the kingdom of Syria was splendid and 
luxurious Antioch. It lay in the valley of the Orontes River, 
Antioch so c l° se 1° both the Euphrates and the Mediter- 
Pergamum, ranean that it soon became a commercial center, 
and Rhodes ^sia ]yp nor> d ur i n g this period, contained many 
fine cities, one of the most important being Pergamum, 
the capital of a small but independent kingdom of the same 
name. Still another great Hellenistic city was Rhodes, on 
one of the larger islands of the TEgean Sea. It was famous 
for its art treasures. No less than three thousand statues 
are said to have adorned the streets and public buildings. 
It was also a favorite place of education for orators and 
writers. During Roman days many eminent men, Cicero 
and Julius Caesar among them, studied at Rhodes. 

During the period following Alexander, the Greek city- 
states began to realize that the freedom they prized so much 
The iEtoiian could only be secured by a close union. They 
and Achaean now formed the TEtolian League in central 
Greece and the Achaean League in the Pelopon¬ 
nesus. The latter was the more important. Its business 
lay in the hands of an assembly or congress, where each city, 
whether large or small, had one vote. The assembly, meeting 
twice a year, chose a general, or president, levied taxes, 
raised armies, and conducted all foreign affairs. The cities, 
in local matters, continued to enjoy their old independence. 
This organization shows that the Achaean League was more 
than a mere alliance of city-states. It formed the first 
genuine federation that the world had ever seen, and its 


173 


The Hellenistic Age 

example was repeatedly cited by the American statesmen 
who helped to frame our Constitution. The league met at 
first a well-merited success. It freed the Peloponnesian cities 
from their tyrants and vigorously asserted the cause of 
Greek independence against Macedonia. Finally, however, 
the league declined in importance and in the second century 
of its existence it was dissolved by Rome. 

54. The Hellenistic Age 

Attic Greek, the Greek spoken and written by the Athe^ 
nians,had become the regular literary language of Greece long 
before the time of Alexander the Great. During Q 
the Hellenistic Age it became the universal lan¬ 
guage of polite intercourse, of government, of diplomacy, and 
of business. Every educated man, whether Greek or Orien¬ 
tal, used it. The common people, Egyptians, Syrians, Per¬ 
sians, and the rest, continued the use of their native tongues, 
as they kept their local religions and customs. 

The Hellenistic Age was distinguished as an age of learning. 
This was especially true at Alexandria, where the Museum, 
founded by the first Macedonian king of Egypt, The new 
became a real university. It contained lecture learnin s 
halls, galleries of art, an astronomical observatory, and even 
zoological and botanical gardens. The Museum formed a 
resort for men of learning, who had the quiet and leisure 
so necessary for scholarly research. The beautiful gardens, 
with their shady walks, statues, and fountains, were the 
haunt of thousands of students whom the fame of Alexandria 
attracted from all parts of the civilized world. In addition 
to the Museum there was a splendid Library, which at one 
time contained over five hundred thousand manuscripts — 
almost everything that had been written in antiquity. The 
chief librarian ransacked private collections and purchased 
all the books he could find. Every book that entered 
Egypt was brought to the Library, where slaves transcribed 
the manuscript and gave a copy to the owner in place of 


174 


Mingling of East and West 

the original. The more important works were carefully 
edited by Alexandrian scholars, thus supplying standard 
editions of the classics for other ancient libraries. One of 
their most useful tasks was the translation into Greek of 
the treasures of Oriental literature. We owe to them the 
Greek version of the Old Testament, made in the third cen¬ 
tury b.c. for the benefit of Alexandrian Jews who had for- 



The island of Pharos in the harbor of Alexandria contained a lighthouse (also called 
Pharos) built about 280 b.c. by the architect and engineer Sostratus. It rose in three 
diminishing stages, the first being square, the second octagonal, and the third round, to a 
reputed height of nearly four hundred feet. On the apex stood a statue. The lighthouse 
collapsed in 1326 as the result of repeated earthquakes. 

gotten their mother-tongue. It is known as the Septuagint, 
from the tradition that seventy scholars labored on it. The 
existence of this translation enabled non-Jews to become 
familiar with Hebrew writings, a matter of much importance 
later, when Christianity entered the ancient world. 

The Hellenistic Age was marked by a general increase 
in wealth and luxurious living. The old Greeks and Mace¬ 
donians, as a rule, had been content to live plainly. Now 
kings, nobles, and men of wealth began to build splendid 























175 


The Hellenistic Age 

palaces and to fill them with the products of ancient 
art — marbles from Asia Minor, vases from Athens, Italian 
bronzes, and Babylonian tapestries. They kept The new 
up great households with endless lords in waiting, luxuf y 
ladies of honor, pages, guards, and servants. Soft couches 
and clothes of delicate fabric replaced the simple coverlets 
and coarse cloaks of an earlier time. They possessed rich 
carpets and hangings, splendid armor and jewelry, and gold 
and silver vessels for the table. The standard of living was 
thus raised by the introduction of luxuries to which the old 
Greeks had been strangers. 

These new luxuries flowed in from all parts of the ancient 
world. Many came from the Far East in consequence of the 
rediscovery of the sea route to India by Alexan- The sea route 
der’s admiral, Nearchus. 1 The voyage of Near- t0 India 
chus was one of the most important results of Alexander’s 
eastern conquests. It established the fact, which had 
been long forgotten, that one could reach India by a water 
route much shorter and safer than the caravan roads through 
central Asia (§ 22). This knowledge was not again to be lost. 
Somewhat later a Greek sailor, named Harpalus, found that 
by using the monsoons, the periodic winds which blow over 
the Indian Ocean, he could sail direct from Arabia to India 
without laboriously following the coast. The Greeks, in con¬ 
sequence, gave his name to the monsoons. 

A large share of the eastern commerce centered at Alexan¬ 
dria, because of its excellent situation. One hundred and 
twenty vessels left that city every year for the commercial 
long voyage to India. They sailed up the Nile, intercourse 
thence through a canal into the Red Sea, and so on into the 
Indian Ocean. Caravan routes from the interior of Africa, 
Arabia, and Syria also met at Alexandria. The markets of 
this city contained the spices and perfumes of Arabia, gold 
dust, jewels, and fine fabrics from India, silk from China, 
ivory from Africa — all the rare and precious products for 
which there was now a demand. 

1 See the map, page 167. 


176 


Mingling of East and West 
55. The Graeco-Oriental World 


Greece and the Near East exchanged ideas as well as com- 
intenectuai modities. What the Greeks had accomplished in 
relations be- art, literature, philosophy, and science became 
in^WesT* familiar to the Egyptians, Babylonians, and other 

Oriental peoples. They, in turn, introduced the 
Greeks to their achievements in the realm of thought. 

The Greeks who emigrated in such numbers to Egypt and 
western Asia lost citizenship at Athens, Sparta, or Thebes and 
cosmopoii- became subjects of the Ptolemies or of the Seleu- 
tanism cids. They surrendered local attachments and 
prejudices, which had so long divided them, to become “ cos¬ 
mopolitans/ ’ or citizens of the world. They likewise lost old 
feelings of antagonism toward non-Greeks. Henceforth the 
distinction between Greek and “Barbarian” gradually faded 
away, and mankind became ever more unified in sympathies 
and aspirations. This Grseco-Oriental world of city-states, 
federations, and kingdoms about the eastern Mediterranean 
was now to come into contact with the great power which 
had arisen in the western Mediterranean — Rome. 


Macedonia 

phalanx 

catapult 

Thrace 

Philippi 

Thessaly 

Demosthenes 

Chseronea 

Cyrus the Younger 


For Explanation 

the Ten Thousand 

Ephesus 

Granicus 

Issus 

Cyrene 

Arbela 

Persepolis 

Indus 

Hellenistic 


Ptolemies 

Seleucidae 

Alexandria 

Antioch 

Pergamum 

Rhodes 

Achaean League 
Alexandrian Museum 
Nearchus 


For Discussion 

1. Show how the phalanx and cavalry cooperated in the Macedonian 
army. 

2. Why did the Greeks make so feeble a resistance to the encroachments 
of Philip? 


The Graeco-Oriental World 


177 


3. In what sense was Chaeronea a decisive battle? 

4. How is it true that the expedition of the Ten Thousand forms “an 
epilogue to the invasion of Xerxes and a prologue to the conquests of 
Alexander”? 

5. Compare Alexander’s invasion of Persia with the invasion of Greece 
by Xerxes. 

6. How did the Macedonian Empire compare in size with that of Persia? 
with that of Assyria? 

7. What qualities of leadership were possessed by Alexander? 

8. Distinguish between the immediate and the ultimate results of Alex¬ 
ander’s conquests. 

9. Comment on the following statement: “No single personality, except¬ 
ing the carpenter’s son of Nazareth, has done so much to make the world 
we live in what it is as Alexander of Macedon.” 

10. Show that the founding of Hellenistic cities formed a renewal of Greek 
colonial expansion. 

11. How did the Greek cities in the Near East differ politically from those 
in Greece? 

12. What were some of the chief differences between the Achaean League 
and the Delian League? 

13. What is meant by calling the Achaean League the “last word of Greek 
politics”? 

14. Show how the city of Alexandria is one of the meeting points between 
Orient and Occident. 

15. How did the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 affect the commercial 
importance of Alexandria? 

16. Contrast the luxury of Hellenistic times with the simplicity of life in 
old Sparta. 

For Further Study 

1. Give the proper dates for {a) accession of Alexander, ( b ) battle of 
Issus, (c) battle of Arbela, and ( d ) death of Alexander. 

2. Study carefully the illustration of the Alexander Mosaic (page 165). 
How much can you see and describe in it? 

3. Make a list of the modern countries included within the empire of 
Alexander. 

4. Read Dryden’s poem, Alexander's Feast. Why did Dryden write this 
poem? 

5. Prepare an oral report on the city of Alexandria from ancient times to 
the present day. 

6. Look up in a dictionary of classical antiquities accounts of the Colossus 
of Rhodes, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, and the Temple of Arte¬ 
mis at Ephesus. 


178 


Mingling of East and West 

Supplementary 

Webster, Readings in Early European History, chapter x, “The Expedition 
of the Ten Thousand”; chapter xii, “Demosthenes and the Struggle 
against Philip”; chapter xiii, “Exploits of Alexander the Great.” 

Webster and Webb, Historical Outline Maps and Exercises: Early European 
History, No. VII, The Growth of Macedonia and the Empire of Alex¬ 
ander the Great. 



Capitoline Museum, Rome 

A marble copy of one of a group of bronze statues set up in a temple at Pergamum by 
Attalus I in the third century b.c. The statue represents a Gallic trumpeter, who has been 
mortally wounded in battle. Overcome by the faintness of death he sinks upon his shield 
and broken trumpet, his head dropping heavily forward. Though realistic, the statue shows 
nothing violent or repulsive. . It is a tragedy in stone. 



























CHAPTER VIII 


GREEK LIFE AND THOUGHT 

For that branch of mankind which is responsible for Western civiliza¬ 
tion, the seeds of almost all that we count best in human progress were 
sown in Greece. 

— Gilbert Murray 

To break through custom by the sheer force of reflection and so to make 
rational progress possible, was the intellectual feat of one people, the ancient 
Greeks; and it is at least highly doubtful if, without their leadership, a 
progressive civilization would have existed to-day. 

— R. R. Marett 

56. Children and Their Training 

Greek boys and girls, until the age of seven, remained un¬ 
der the general oversight of their mothers. Most households 
were able to afford a slave woman or a foreigner Childhood 
to shoulder the chief responsibility for the chil¬ 
dren. At about the opening of the eighth year the boy 
passed under the care of a slave ( pxdagogus ), who attended 
him everywhere — to and from school, on the playground, 
and in the house. It was the duty of this “pedagogue” to 
teach the boy good manners and to prevent him from fall¬ 
ing into bad companionships. His sister, meanwhile, re¬ 
mained in seclusion at home. She learned the usual duties 
of household management, but she enjoyed no such advan¬ 
tages in the way of careful schooling as her brother would 
henceforth receive. 

There was no system of free or common schools in ancient 
Greece. Public opinion insisted, however, that all male 
citizens should be educated. Athens and other Private 
Greek cities contained many private schools, open schools 
to children of all classes on the payment of moderate fees. No 
matter how poor his parents, a Greek boy could gain at least 

179 


180 


Gymnastics 


Greek Life and Thought 

the elements of knowledge. The Greeks were the first 
people to realize the importance of popular education. 

Greek education consisted of three main branches, known 
as gymnastics, music, and grammar. By gymnastics the 
Greeks meant the physical training in the pales¬ 
tra, an open stretch of ground on the outskirts of 
the city. Here a private teacher gave instruction in the 

vmmm various athletic sports 


which were so popular 
at the national games 
(§ 35). All the par¬ 
ticipants usually 
practiced naked. They 
first smeared their 
bodies with oil and 
after the contests 
cleansed themselves 
with a scraper. The 
palestra usually lay 
near a stream, and so 
the boys added swim¬ 
ming and diving to 
their other accomplish¬ 
ments. This daily ex¬ 
ercise taken in the 
open air developed fine 
athletes. 

Music, the second important branch of education, was 
intended to improve the moral nature of young men and to 
fit them for pleasant social intercourse. They 
learned to play a seven-stringed instrument, the 
lyre, and at the same time to sing to their own accompani¬ 
ment. The instruction did not aim to produce performers of 
great ability. It was enough if it enabled a man to take his 
part in the music and songs at social gatherings, as well as 
to play for his own amusement. 1 

1 See the illustration, page 181. 



Girls Playing Knucklebones 

National Museum, Naples 
A cinnabar painting on marble found at Pompeii: 
a rare example of its kind. 


Music 





181 


Children and Their Training 


Grammar, the third branch of education, included instruc¬ 
tion in writing and the reading of the national literature. The 
Greeks never thought of making foreign lan¬ 
guages a subject of study. They were content Grammar 
with the thorough mastery of their own tongue. The boy 
began by tracing his letters with a stylus on wax-coated 



An Athenian School 


New Museum, Berlin 

A painting by Duris on a drinking-cup, or cylix. The picture is divided by two handles. 
In the upper half, beginning at the left: a youth playing the double flute as a lesson to the 
boy before him; a teacher holding a tablet and stylus and correcting a composition; a 
slave (pxdagogus ), who accompanied the children to and from school. In the lower half: 
a master teaching his pupil to play the lyre; a teacher holding a half-opened roll, listening 
to a recitation by the student before him; a bearded pxdagogus. The inner picture, 
badly damaged, represents a youth in a bath. 


wooden tablets which rested on his knees. When he had 
learned to write and to read, the schoolmaster took up with 
him the works of the epic poets, especially Homer, besides 
JEsop’s Fables and other popular compositions. The student 
learned by heart much of the poetry and at-so early an age 








182 


Greek Life and Thought 

that he always remembered it. Not a few Athenians, it is 
said, could recite the entire Iliad and Odyssey. 

The Greeks cared little for “book-learning” or even for 
manual training. They thought of education as a means to 
a “liberal” self-cultivation and worthy citizenship. Their 
education educational system was therefore intended to 
develop all sides of man’s nature, physical, mental, and 
moral — to produce the sound mind in the sound body. We 
must remember that the system of slavery freed many 
citizens from the need of working with their hands or of 
engaging in trade and industry. To spend all of one’s time 
and energy in money-making was felt to be unworthy of a 
free-born Greek. A life devoted entirely to business, said 
the philosophers, injures the body, enfeebles the mind, and 
leaves no leisure to engage in public affairs. The typical 
Greek, especially at Athens, valued knowledge for its own 
sake, appreciated intelligent and witty conversation, and 
found much pleasure,in the drama, music, poetry, and the 
fine arts. Thus there developed the Greek ideal of the cul¬ 
ture befitting a freeman, of a truly “liberal” education. 
This ideal became a part of our European tradition and has 
persisted among us to the present day. 

57. Women and Their Condition 

A young man in ancient Athens did not, as a rule, marry 
immediately on coming of age. He might remain a bachelor 
Deferring of for several years, sometimes until he was thirty 
marriage Q r over> The sports and exercises of the gymna¬ 
sium, the frequent obligation of military service, or the desire 
to travel and study abroad were often sufficient to delay 
entrance upon the married state. 

Perhaps an even stronger reason for this unwillingness to 
Seclusion of marr y was the absence of the romantic element 
Athenian in much of Greek life. In some city-states, and 
particularly at Athens, youths and maidens of 
the upper classes had few opportunities for becoming ac- 


Women and Their Condition 


183 


quainted with one another. An Athenian girl was closely 
guarded by her parents. If, on rare occasions, she went 
outside the house to witness some religious festival, to visit 
a temple, or to attend a funeral, she was always accompanied 
by an older woman as a chaperon. It sometimes happened 
that an Athenian never saw his future wife until the wed¬ 
ding day. 

The young man’s father had most to do with the selection 
of a wife. He tried to secure for his son the daughter of some 
friend who possessed rank and property equal to 
his own. If he found a suitable match, the par- Engagements 
ents of the two parties entered into a contract which, among 



The bridegroom leads the bride by her left hand. She is heavily draped and wears also 
the bridal crown and veil. In the center are Apollo and Artemis, the deities presiding 
over marriage. Two figures on the right are engaged in conversation. 


other things, usually stated how large a dowry the bride’s 
father was to settle on his daughter. An engagement was 
very little a matter of romance and very much a matter of 
business. 

A wedding was a religious ceremony. On the appointed 
day the principals and their guests, dressed in holiday attire, 
met at the house of the bride’s father. After a Weddings 
solemn sacrifice to the gods of marriage came the 
banquet, at which, in addition to the animal just roasted on 
the altar, the guests partook of a cake made of sesame seeds 
mixed with honey — the prototype of the fruit cake used at 
modern weddings. The meal ended with ceremonious wishes 
for the health and happiness of the couple. When night 
came on, the husband brought his wife to her new abode, 
escorted by a procession of torchbearers, musicians, and 














184 Greek Life and Thought 

friends, who sang the happy wedding song. The next day 
the husband held a second marriage feast in his house, and 
the newly married pair formally received their relatives and 
acquaintances. 

An Athenian wife, during her earlier years, always re¬ 
mained more or less a prisoner. She could not go out except 
inferior osi by permission. She took no part in the feasts 
tionof rp ° S1 and entertainments which her husband gave. 
Athenian She ii vec [ a life of confinement in that quarter of 

women ^he house assigned to the women for their special 

abode. An Athenian wife, moreover, had no legal rights. 
If her husband illtreated her, she found it difficult to secure 
a separation. In case of a divorce, the father kept possession 
of the children. The inferior position of women at Athens 
affords a marked contrast to the general refinement of life 
and manners. 


58. Clothing, House, and Furniture 

Athenian male attire consisted of the tunic and the mantle. 
The tunic was an undergarment of wool or linen, without 
,. sleeves. When the wearer was busy in an occu- 

pation that required freedom of movement, the 
tunic was drawn up tightly about the body and confined 
by a girdle. Over this garment was thrown a large woolen 
mantle, so wrapped about the figure as to leave free only 
the right shoulder and head. In the house a man wore only 
his tunic; out of doors and on the street he usually wore 
the mantle over it. However, it does not seem to have 
been bad form to present one’s self in public garbed only 
in the mantle. Some Greek statues indicate that this was 
by no means an unusual practice. The dress of women was 
much the same as that of men, but with greater variety in 
shape, draping, color, and ornamentation. Veils sometimes 
formed a part of their costume, especially for young girls and 
brides who appeared in public. 

The use of head-coverings, among both men and women. 


185 


Clothing, House, and Furniture 

was much less common than with us to-day. Broad-brimmed 
hats were worn on a journey or out in the country, as a pro¬ 
tection against the summer sun. In rainy weather coverings for 
the mantle could be pulled up so as to cover head and feet 
both head and face. People often wore sandals indoors and 
leather shoes outdoors, but coverings for the feet were not 
regarded as essential to a decent appearance in public. 



Vatican Museum, Rome 

A painting on a Greek vase. Achilles (left) and Ajax (right) are shown 
casting dice. 

A Greek house lay close to the street line. The exterior 
was plain and simple to an extreme. The owner was satisfied 
if his mansion shut out the noise and dust of the The 
highway. He built it, therefore, about one or 
more open courts, which took the place of windows supplying 
light and air. Except for the doorway, the front of the house 
presented a bare, blank surface, only relieved by narrow slits 
or lattices in the wall of the upper story. The street side of 
the house wall received a coating of whitewash or of fine 
marble stucco. The roof of the house was covered with clay 
tiles. This style of domestic architecture is still common in 
Mediterranean lands. 











186 


Greek Life and Thought 

A Greek house was ill supplied with furniture. Couches or 
beds for sleeping and for reclining at meals, chairs, tables, and 
a great variety of lamps provided for most of the 

Furniture ° J 1 1 

daily needs. What furniture there was had an 
elegance of form which modern cabinetmakers seek in vain 
to rival. The sure instinct for beauty possessed by Greek 
peoples made the furnishings of the house a daily lesson in 
good taste. 


59. Daily Life at Athens 

The ancient Athenian was no sluggard. He got up at sun¬ 
rise, or even before, washed his face and hands, put on his 
Business of scanty garments, and was soon ready for the 
the forenoon street. Before leaving the house he broke his 
fast with a meal as simple as the European “rolls and coffee” 



This relief from the base of an Athenian statue shows two youths striving to get pos¬ 
session of a ball by means of a hooked-shaped stick, as in the modern game of hockey. 

— in this case merely a few mouthfuls of bread dipped in 
wine. After breakfast he might call on his friends or per¬ 
haps ride into the country and visit his estates. About ten 
o’clock (which the Athenians called “full market”), he 
would be pretty sure to find his way to the Agora, or market 
place of Athens. The shops at this time were crowded with 




Daily Life at Athens 187 

purchasers, and every sociable citizen was to be found in 
them or in the neighboring colonnades. 

The public resorts were deserted at noon, when the 
Athenian returned home to enjoy a light meal and a rest 
during the heat. As the day grew cooler, men Occupations 
again went out and visited a gymnasium, such as of the after- 
the Lyceum or the Academy, in the city suburbs. noon 
Here were grounds for running, wrestling, discus-throwing, 
and other sports, as well as rooms for bathing and anointing. 
While the younger men busied themselves in such active 


A Banquet 

From a vase painting by Duris 

exercises, those of maturer years might be content with less 
vigorous games or with conversation on political or philo¬ 
sophical themes. 

The principal meal of the day came about sunset. The 
master of the house, if he had no guests, shared the repast 
with his wife and children. The ordinary fare was The evening 
very much what it is now in Greece — bread, meal 
olives, figs, cheese, with a little meat as an occasional luxury. 
As a substitute for sugar, the Athenian used honey; olive 
oil took the place of butter; and snow served instead of ice 
for cooling water or wine. A wealthy man might add to 
these simple articles of diet a few dainties, such as fruits, 
nuts, and cakes. At the end of the meal the diners refreshed 
themselves with wine mixed with water. The Greeks seem 
to have been usually as temperate in their drink as they 






188 Greek Life and Thought 

were frugal in their food. The remainder of the evening 
would be devoted to conversation and music and possibly a 
little reading. As a rule the Athenian gentleman went early 
to bed. The lighting arrangements of an ancient house were 
not such as to encourage late hours; besides, as we have 
said, the practice was to rise very early of a morning. 


60. Athenian Amusements 


The Athenians celebrated many religious festivals. One of 
the most important was the Great Panathensea, held every 
Religious fourth year in the month of July. Athletic con- 
festivais tests and poetical recitations, sacrifices, feasts, 
and processions honored the goddess Athena, who presided 





w-iSSCiffl. 


Asaa a&ggj *■ 

.i« ■-’arc 


■nfnrtSSSfe 






sww 

rs«S 


Swffi;' . 


... .‘m'-o'"- 1 "’-- 


tz;r;. * 


The Theater at Epidaurus 

The theater at Epidaurus in Argolis was built about the middle of the fourth century b.c.. 
The auditorium, holding about 15,000 spectators, is well preserved, as is also the circle of 
the orchestra bordered by a line of white stones. 


over the Athenian city. It was a holiday time when slaves- 
enjoyed many indulgences, when women came out from their 
seclusion, and when the deities received their share of joyful 
worship. The festivals of the god Dionysus, which took 

















Athenian Amusements 


189 


place in midwinter and spring, were celebrated with dramatic 
performances. The tragedies and comedies composed for 
these entertainments have a place among the masterpieces 
of Greek literature (§61). 

Attic tragedy, the first division of the drama to attain 
artistic character, passed through several stages before it 
reached a completed form. First, the hymns sung at the 
festivals of Dionysus were adapted to a 
trained chorus. The next step was to se¬ 
lect one of the members of the Development 
chorus as an actor to take part of the drama 
in a dialogue with the chorus leader. Then 
a second and finally a third actor were in¬ 
troduced. These changes made the dialogue 
of most importance. The speeches of the 
actors could now tell a complete story, to 
which the songs and dances of the chorus 
added interest and animation. When at 
length great poets began to compose the 
odes sung by the chorus and the words of 
the dialogue recited by the actors, the ma¬ 
terials of the tragic drama were complete. 

Greek plays were performed out of doors 
in the bright sunlight. There was no elabo¬ 
rate scenery; the spectator had Features of a 
to rely chiefly on his own imagi- Greek play 
nation for the setting of the piece. The ac¬ 
tors, who were all men, usually numbered 
not more than three; they were therefore 
obliged to assume different roles in the same performance. 
They indulged in few lively movements or gestures and 
from a distance must have looked like majestic statues. 
All wore elaborate costumes, and tragic actors, in addi¬ 
tion, were made to appear larger than human with masks, 
padding, and thick-soled boots, or buskins. The chorus, 
which numbered fifteen men for tragedy and twenty-four 
for comedy, was stationed in the dancing ring, or orchestra. 



Tragic Actor 

British Museum, 
London 

An ivory statuette 
found in a Roman 
villa; second cen¬ 
tury A.D. 


190 


Greek Life and Thought 

The performances occupied the three days of the Dionysiac 
festivals, beginning early in the morning and lasting till 
night. All this time was necessary because they formed 
contests for a prize which the people awarded to the poet 
and chorus whose presentation was judged of highest excel¬ 
lence. The theater held an important place in the life of 
Athens and indeed of all Greek cities. It formed a partial 
substitute for our pulpit and press, since it dealt either with 
religious and moral themes or with leading personages and 
questions of the day. 


61. Greek Literature 


The literature of Greece begins with epic poetry. An 
epic may be defined as a long narrative in verse, dealing 

with some large and 
noble theme. The 
_ . . earliest epic 

poetry of 
the Greeks was in¬ 
separable from music. 
Wandering minstrels 
sang at feasts in the 
palaces of kings and 
accompanied their lays 
with the music of the 
clear-toned lyre. The 
singer afterward gave 
up the lyre and de¬ 
pended for effect solely 
on the poetic power of his narrative. Such minstrel songs 
were finally combined into long poems written in hexam¬ 
eters, that is, in lines containing six metrical feet. The 
most famous epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey , works 
which the Greeks attributed to Homer (§33). 

The Greeks, in time, began to develop a new form of 
poetic expression — the lyric. They found in short poems, 



Sappho 

Greek gem in the British Museum, London. 




Greek Literature 


191 


accompanied by the flute or the lyre, a medium for the ut¬ 
terance of personal feelings which was not furnished by the 
long and cumbrous epic. The love poems of 
Sappho, who lived on the island of Lesbos, were Lync P ° etry 
celebrated in antiquity. Only two of her productions have 
reached us intact. The greatest lyric poet was Pindar. We 
still possess forty-four of his odes, which were written in 
honor of victorious athletes at the Olympic and other na¬ 
tional games (§ 35). Pindar’s verses were so popular that 
he became, as it were, the “poet laureate” of Greece. 

The three great masters of the tragic drama lived and 
wrote in Athens during the splendid half-century between 
the Persian and the Peloponnesian wars. They Athenian 
are said to have written altogether nearly three tra s ed y 
hundred plays. Only thirty-two have come down to us. 
Aeschylus, the first of the tragic poets, had fought at Mara¬ 
thon and Salamis. One of his works, the Persians , is a 
magnificent song of triumph for the victory of Greece. It 
is the only Greek tragedy in existence which takes its theme, 
not from mythology, but from history. Sophocles, while 
yet a young man, gained the prize in a dramatic contest with 
Aeschylus. His plays mark the perfection of Greek tragedy. 
The Athenians, after his death, honored his memory with 
yearly sacrifices. Euripides was the third of the Athenian 
dramatists and the most generally popular. His fame 
reached far beyond his native city. We are told that the 
Sicilians were so fond of Euripides that they granted freedom 
to every one of the Athenian prisoners captured at Syracuse 
who could recite the poet’s lines. 

Athenian comedy during the fifth century B.c. is repre¬ 
sented by the plays of Aristophanes. He was both a great 
poet and a great satirist. In some of his come- Athenian 
dies he attacks the demagogues who were promi- comedy 
nent in Athenian politics, while in others he ridicules the 
philosophers, makes fun of the ordinary citizen’s delight 
in serving on the popular courts and trying cases, and 
criticizes those responsible for the unfortunate expedition to 


192 


Greek Life and Thought 


History 


Sicily (§ 45). The plays of Aristophanes were performed 
before large and admiring audiences and hence must have 
had much influence on public opinion. 

The “father of history,” Herodotus, flourished about the 
middle of the fifth century b.c. Though a native of Asia 
Minor, Herodotus spent some of the best years of 
his life at Athens, mingling in its brilliant society 
and coming under the influences, literary and artistic, of that 
city. He traveled widely in the Greek world and in the Near 
East, as a preparation for his great task of writing an account 
of the rise of the Oriental nations and the struggle between 
Greece and Persia. Herodotus was not a critical historian, 
diligently sifting truth from fable. Where he can he gives us 
facts. Where facts are lacking, he tells interesting stories 
in a most winning style. Another famous author was Thu¬ 
cydides, an Athenian who lived during the epoch of the 
Peloponnesian War and became the historian of that con¬ 
test. He omits as useless the stories which Herodotus would 
have narrated, but, in return, he presents us with a fair and 
accurate account of things just as they happened. This 
is the first business of the historian, and so Thucydides 
must be considered the first scientific writer of history. 
Another Athenian historian, Xenophon, is best known from 
his Anabasis , which describes the famous expedition of the 
“Ten Thousand” Greeks against Persia (§ 50). 

Greek biography is represented by the work of Plutarch, 
who wrote during the first century of our era. Greece at that 

Biography time was onl y a P rov i nce of the Roman Empire; 

the days of her greatness had long since passed 
away. Plutarch thus had rather a melancholy task in com¬ 
piling his Parallel Lives. In this book he relates, first, the 
life of an eminent Greek, then of a famous Roman who in 
some way resembled him; and ends the account with a short 
comparison of the two men. Plutarch had a wonderful gift of 
sympathy for his heroes and a keen eye for what was dra¬ 
matic in their careers. It is not surprising, therefore, that he 
has always been a favorite author. 


Philosophic Thought 193 

It is clear from the foregoing survey that the Greeks were 
pioneers in many forms of literature. They first composed 
artistic epic poems. They invented lyric and originality of 
dramatic poetry. They were the first to write Greek 
real histories and biographies. They also rose to hterature 
eminence in oratory. Their original work exerted great in¬ 
fluence on the Romans, whose writings were always based on 
Greek models. 


62. Philosophic Thought 

The Greeks really founded philosophy, which means an 
intelligent effort to discover the reason and cause of things. 
The earliest speculations of this sort go back to The “ P hi- 
the sixth century B.c., when a few bold thinkers losophers ” 
in Ionia and other parts of the Greek world began to search 
out the mysteries of nature. These men called themselves 
“philosophers” — lovers of wisdom. They were not content 
to follow the poets who declared that gods brought about the 
changes of night and day, the succession of the seasons, 
thunderstorms, eclipses, and other physical phenomena. 
They tried to find a natural origin for everything. One of 
them taught that the earth was formed from water or 
moisture. Another substituted air for water. Another 
thought fire was the universal first substance. These ideas, 
we know, were quite wrong, but by trying to understand 
the world, instead of simply repeating myths about it, the 
“philosophers” began an intellectual movement that has 
continued to our own time. 

A new class of thinkers, known as sophists, appeared about 
the middle of the fifth century B.c. They gave up the study 
of the material universe as futile, and proposed ^ 

, , n ,, r . r , The sophists 

rather to study man himself. Man, they de¬ 
clared, “is the measure of all things,” meaning by “man” 
his reason or intellect. The sophists traveled throughout 
Greece, gathering the young men about them and lecturing 
for pay on subjects of practical interest. Rhetoric and 


194 


Greek Life and Thought 


Socrates 


oratory, so essential for success in a public career, were also 
taught by the sophists. Sometimes they only pretended to 
be wise and were not. Indeed, the name of “sophist” came 
to mean one who instructs his pupils how to deceive people 
by arguments which they do not themselves believe. Many 
sophists, however, were really brilliant thinkers, who helped 
to spread more reasonable ideas about 
politics, morals, and religion. 

No one did more in this direction 
than Socrates the Athenian, who 
taught during the period 
of the Peloponnesian War 
(§ 45). Socrates resembled the sophists 
in the possession of an inquiring mind 
which questioned every common be¬ 
lief and superstition. He went beyond 
them in his emphasis on matters of 
everyday morality. Thus, he asked 
where is the difference between justice 
and injustice, between virtue and vice; 
what is the beautiful, what the ugly; 
what is noble, what base; who is the 
good citizen and who the bad? Soc¬ 
rates, then, was a student of conduct, 
whose chief aim was to make people 
better. A poor man, he would neither 
work at his trade of sculptor nor (as 
did the sophists) accept money for his 
instruction. He walked the streets, barefoot and half-clad, 
happy if he could find some gray-haired elder whose ignorance 
he might expose in argument, or some younger man whose 
sham knowledge melted like mist before his shrewd question¬ 
ing. For Socrates never preached, he only discussed; he 
taught not by formal lectures, but through conversation. 
Though he wrote nothing, his teaching and personality made 
a deep impression on his contemporaries. The Delphic oracle 
declared that no one in the world was wiser than Socrates. 



British Museum, London 
A marble statuette from 
Egypt; reduced copy of a 
fourth-century original. 




THE DEATH OF SOCRATES 

After the painting by J. L. David 
















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Philosophic Thought 195 

Nevertheless, his criticism of popular beliefs raised up many 
enemies for him, even in Athens where people more than 
elsewhere enjoyed free speech. Late in life he was tried and 
condemned to death on charges of impiety and of corrupting 
the youth of Athens with his doctrines. When the hour of 
departure arrived, he bade his disciples farewell and calmly 
drained the cup of hemlock, a poison that caused a painless 
death. 

One of the members of the Socratic circle was Plato, a 
wealthy noble who abandoned a public career for the attrac¬ 
tions of philosophy. After the death of Socrates, R 
Plato traveled widely in the Greek world and 
even visited Egypt, where he interviewed the learned priests. 
On his return to Athens he began teaching in the garden and 
gymnasium called the Academy. His writings, known collec¬ 
tively as Dialogues , are cast in the form of question and 
answer that Socrates had used. In most of them Plato 
makes Socrates the chief speaker. One of these productions, 
the Republic , describes an ideal commonwealth; another 
work, the Laws , sets forth an ideal legal code. Three very 
beautiful dialogues present a touching picture of the last 
days of Socrates. Plato’s works are both profound in 
thought and admirable in style. The Athenians used to say 
that if Zeus had spoken Greek, he would have spoken it as 
did Plato. 

Aristotle, another eminent thinker, was not an Athenian 
by birth, but he passed many years in Athens, first as a 
pupil of Plato, who called him the “mind” of 
the Academy, and then as the head of his own Anstotle 
school in the garden and gymnasium of the Lyceum. Aris¬ 
totle seems to have taken all knowledge for his province. 
He investigated the ideas underlying the arts of rhetoric 
and poetry; he gathered the constitutions of many Greek 
states and drew from them some general principles of politics; 
he studied collections of strange plants and animals to learn 
their structure and habits; and he examined the acts and 
beliefs of men in order to write books on ethics. Perhaps 


196 


Greek Life and Thought 


his supreme achievement was the creation of logic, the science 
of reasoning. Everywhere he sought for facts; everything 
he tried to bring to the test of personal observation. “ Plato 
and truth are both dear to me,” he said, “but it is a sa¬ 
cred duty to prefer truth.” Aristotle, then, was as much a 
scientist as a philosopher. When we remember that very 
little of a scientific character had been written before his 
time, we can realize his influence on the thought of the 
world. His books were reverently 
studied for centuries and are still 
used in our universities. 

The system of philosophy called 
Epicureanism was founded by a 
^ . Greek named Epicurus. 

He taught m Athens 
during the earlier part of the third 
century b.c. Epicurus believed 
that pleasure is the sole good, pain 
the sole evil. He meant by pleas¬ 
ure not so much the passing enjoy¬ 
ments of the hour as the permanent 
happiness of a lifetime. In order to 
be happy, men should not trouble 
themselves with useless luxuries, 
but should lead the “simple life.” They must be virtuous, 
for virtue will bring more real satisfaction than vice. Some 
of the followers of Epicurus seemed to find in his philo¬ 
sophic system justification for free indulgence in every appe¬ 
tite and passion. Even to-day, when we call a man an 
“Epicurean,” we think of him as a selfish pleasure seeker. 

The noblest of all pagan philosophies was Stoicism, founded 
by Zeno, a contemporary of Epicurus. Virtue, said the Stoic, 
stoicism consists in living “according to nature,” that is, 
according to the Universal Reason or Divine 



Aristotle 

From Herculaneum; probably work 
of the fourth century b.c. 


(170) 


Providence that rules the world. The followers of this 
philosophy tried, therefore, to ignore the feelings and exalt 
the reason as a guide to conduct. They practiced self- 


Scientific Thought 197 

denial, despised the pomps and vanities of the world, and 
tried to rise above such emotions as grief, fear, hope, and 
joy. They held that nothing external to a man — riches or 
fame or power — really counts. The slave or peasant who 
bears with fortitude all the ills of life may be more virtuous, 
and therefore happier, than a king. These inspiring doc¬ 
trines gained many adherents among the Romans and 
through them Stoicism became a real moral force in ancient 
society (§ 100). 

63. Scientific Thought 

Philosophy and science were not at first distinguished by 
the Greeks. The sixth-century “philosophers” (§ 62) might 
also be called scientists, since they studied Ri Se of Greek 
nature and tried to explain her operations in a science 
natural manner. Even some of the later philosophers con¬ 
tributed to scientific knowledge. Democritus, a contem¬ 
porary of Socrates, thought of all material things as being 
made up of ever-moving atoms, so small that their size 
cannot be diminished (hence their Greek name, which 
means “indivisible”). He thus anticipated some of our 
modern ideas of matter and energy. Plato and his followers 
did useful work in mathematics and astronomy, while Aris¬ 
totle’s careful descriptions of animals entitle him to rank as 
the founder of zoology. His pupil, Theophrastus, who suc¬ 
ceeded him in the headship of the school in the Lyceum, 
created the science of botany. Both Aristotle and Theo¬ 
phrastus in their researches utilized the collections of 
animals and plants made by the trained observers who 
accompanied Alexander the Great to Asia. 

The most rapid advance in scientific knowledge took place 
during the Hellenistic Age, and especially at Alexandria 
(§ 54). After the foundation of the Library and Flourishing of 
Museum, nearly every scientist was a professor Greek science 
there or had at one time studied in its schools. The Hellen¬ 
istic students must have been greatly helped by the scien¬ 
tific lore of Egypt and Babylonia (§ 27), now disclosed to 


198 


Greek Life and Thought 


Mathematics 


them by the priests and other learned men of those old 
countries. Graeco-Oriental science, in turn, passed over to 
the Romans and later became known to the Arabs and to 
the Christian peoples of western Europe. 

The Greeks never accomplished much in arithmetic, be¬ 
cause their way of writing numbers and counting was even 
clumsier than the Roman method with which we 
are still familiar. Geometry, however; had a 
marked development. Euclid, who lived at Alexandria about 
300 B.c., composed a geometrical textbook known as the 
Elements. Its theorems are still the basis of modern works 
on the subject. When asked by the king of Egypt whether 
one could not learn geometry more easily than by studying 
this book, Euclid replied, “There is no royal road to ge¬ 
ometry.” Another mathematician founded trigonometry. 
Archimedes of Syracuse, who had once studied at Alexandria, 
was the most eminent mathematician of antiquity. He 
worked out many theorems, especially in regard to the 
sphere, the cone, the cylinder, and other figures. One of his 
achievements was the calculation of the value of ir (pi), the 
ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. 

Archimedes likewise made many discoveries in physical 
science, including specific gravity and the law of floating 
Physics bodies. A water screw of his device is still in 
use. He also studied the principles of the lever 
and the pulley. “Give me a fulcrum on which to rest,” 
he said, “and I will move the earth.” What Archimedes 
and his successors learned about engineering and mechanical 
devices was taken over by the Romans, who put this theo¬ 
retical knowledge to practical use in building. 

The Greek achievement in astronomy was impressive. 
Aristarchus of Samos, a scientist of the third century b.c., 

4 discovered that the sun is many times larger 

Astronomy , ,, , , , , J ° 

than the moon and that the latter shines by the 
sun’s reflected light. He also roughly estimated the distance 
between these two heavenly bodies. Another astronomer 
counted more than a thousand stars and grouped them into 


Scientific Thought 


199 


constellations, determined the length of the solar year within 
a few minutes of the correct time, and devised the modern 
method of fixing the location of places by means of their 
latitude and longitude. Greek astronomy was put into 
final shape by Ptolemy of Alexandria, who lived in the 
second century of our era. His Almagest (“The Greatest 
Work”), a name given to it by the Arabs, formed the 
standard treatise on astronomy during the Middle Ages. 

Ptolemy, as well as most of his predecessors in astronomy, 
believed that the earth is the center of the universe. Accord¬ 
ing to Ptolemy the apparent motions of the The <(ptole _ 
planets (including both sun and moon) and of maic Sys- 
the stars are caused by the real revolutions of tem 
successive heavens, or spheres of space, inclosing the cen¬ 
tral earth at different distances. This erroneous “Ptole¬ 
maic System” was not overthrown until the grand discovery 
of Copernicus in the sixteenth century of our era (§ 197). 

The work of Hippocrates of Cos (born about 460 B.c.) in 
freeing the art of healing from superstition and ignorance 
has gained for him the title “father of medi- Medicine and 
cine.” His high ideals as to medical practice anatomy 
were embodied in the so-called “Hippocratic ^ 149 ' 

Oath,” which is still recited by graduates of our medical 
schools. Medicine and anatomy received much attention 
at Alexandria, where there were dissecting rooms, charts, 
and models for the study of the human body. Surgical 
operations, sometimes of a major type, were performed, and 
anaesthesia, or unconsciousness, was produced by the use of 
various drugs. Greek scientists discovered that the brain 
is the center of the nervous system, that nerves exist to 
transmit the sensations and impulses, and that the blood 
is borne in streams to every part of the body. Classical 
knowledge of medicine and anatomy was gathered up and 
systematized in the writings of Galen of Pergamum (born 
about 130 a.d.). He remained the supreme authority in 
these fields for more than a thousand years thereafter. 

The colonizing activity of the Greeks introduced them 


200 


Geography 


Greek Life and Thought 

to the lands and peoples about the Mediterranean, and the 
conquests of Alexander the Great much enlarged their 
knowledge of the Near East. They also gained 
some acquaintance with other parts of the world. 
Reference has been made already (§ 22) to the exploring 
voyage of the Carthaginian Hanno along the northwestern 
coast of Africa. His logbook is still extant in a Greek 
translation. About 325 B.c. Pytheas of Massilia sailed along 
the shores of Spain and Gaul and spent some time in Britain. 
He was probably the first Greek to visit that island. Pytheas 
has to tell, also, of another island called Thule, the most 
northerly part of the earth, beyond which the sea becomes 
thickened and like jelly. The latter statement probably 
refers to the drift ice found off the coast of Norway. When 
we consider how little had been previously known of north¬ 
western Europe, we must admit that Pytheas belongs among 
the world’s great explorers. 1 

All this new knowledge was soon gathered together by 
Eratosthenes, a learned librarian of Alexandria, who lived 

Eratosthenes * n third century B.c. He may be regarded 
as the founder of scientific geography. Some 
students before his time had already concluded that the earth 
is spherical and not flat, and guesses had even been made 
as to its circumference. Eratosthenes, by observing the 
shadows cast by the sun at two places in Egypt about seven 
hundred miles apart, was able to estimate the circumference 
at 28,000 miles, a figure nearly one-seventh too large, but 
remarkably accurate, considering his lack of precise in¬ 
struments. Eratosthenes also reached the conclusion that 
the distance from the Strait of Gibraltar to the east of India 
was about one-third of the earth’s surface. 

Still another Alexandrian scientist, the astronomer Ptolemy, 
was also an eminent geographer. His famous map of the 
world summed up the geographical knowledge 
of the ancients. Ptolemy’s inaccuracies are ob¬ 
vious: his Europe extends too far west; his Africa is too 
1 See the map, page 201. 


Ptolemy 


The World According to Ptolemy 



























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































202 


Greek Life and Thought 

wide; and his Asia is vastly exaggerated at its eastern ex¬ 
tremity. By overestimating the distance eastward from 
Spain to China, he consequently diminished the real distance 
westward from Spain to China by nearly four thousand miles. 
Centuries later, when Columbus set out on his memorable 
voyage, he relied on Ptolemy’s calculation and never im¬ 
agined what great masses of land and water lay between the 
coast of Europe and that of Asia. It is fortunate that the 
error arose, else Columbus might never have undertaken 
to sail across the Atlantic. Ptolemy also believed that 
Africa was joined to a great continent in the Indian Ocean. 
This mistaken notion about the unknown southland later 
led to exploring voyages in search of it, and particularly to 
Captain Cook’s discoveries in the Pacific during the eight¬ 
eenth century (§ 232). Ptolemy’s work, in spite of his 
inaccuracies, will always remain one of the monuments of 
classical science. After his time no important additions were 
made to geographical learning until late in the Middle Ages. 

The Greeks in scientific study seem to have gone about 
as far as it was possible to go without the aid of elaborate 
. . , apparatus. They had no real telescopes or 

Ancient and a a j a 

modem microscopes, no mariner’s compass or chronom- 
compared e t er > no ver T delicate balances, and nothing 
comparable to our laboratories for physics, 
chemistry, and other sciences. Modern scientists are per¬ 
haps not better thinkers than were those of antiquity, but 
they have far better instruments for research and can make 
careful experiments where the ancients had to rely only on 
shrewd guesses. It should be noticed, also, that the Greeks 
did little toward linking up their pure science with its appli¬ 
cations to the practical arts. The ancient world does not 
show much advance over the Oriental world in methods of 
manufacturing and the use of machinery and labor-saving 
devices. The Greeks, in spite of their intellectual eminence, 
were not an inventive people. For the great inventions which 
have done and are still doing so much to transform our lives 
we must wait until modern times. 


Art 


203 


64. Art 


The existing monuments of Greek architecture — chiefly 
ruined temples — afford some idea of its leading character¬ 
istics. The building materials were limestone 
and white marble. The blocks of stone were not Archltecture 
bound together by cement, but by metal clamps which held 



Corner of a Doric Corner of an Ionic 

Facade Facade 

Orders of Greek Architecture 


them in a firm grip. It was usual to color the ornamental 
parts of a temple and the open spaces that served as a back¬ 
ground for sculpture. The Greeks did not rely upon the 
arch as a means of covering large areas with a vaulted 
ceiling. Their temples and other public buildings had only 


































































204 


Greek Life and Thought 

flat ceilings, resting on long rows of columns. The column 
probably developed from the tree trunk or wooden post 
used in timber construction. The capital at the top of the 
column originated in the square wooden slab which sup¬ 
ported the heavy beam of the roof. 

The two Greek orders of architecture, Doric and Ionic, are 
distinguished mainly by differences in the treatment of the 
The Doric column. The Doric column has no base of its 
column own. The sturdy shaft is grooved lengthwise 
with some twenty flutings. The capital is a circular band of 

stone capped by a square 
block, all without decora¬ 
tion. The mainland of 
Greece was the especial 
home of the Doric order. 
This was also the charac¬ 
teristic style of southern 
Italy and Sicily. 

The Ionic column rests 
upon a base. The tall and 
The Ionic slender shaft is 

column fluted, but the 

flutings, instead of inter¬ 
secting, as on the Doric 
column, are separated by flat fillets. The beautifully carved 
capital swells outward into spiral rolls, the ends of which are 
curled under to form volutes. The Ionic order flourished 
particularly in Asia Minor. It was well known, too, at 
Athens. 

The temple formed the chief structure in a Greek city. It 
was a rectangular building, provided with doors, but without 
Nature of the windows, and surrounded by a single or double 
Greek temple row 0 f co lumns. The architrave, a plain band 
of massive stones, reached from one column to another. 
Then came the frieze, adorned with sculptured reliefs, then 
the horizontal cornice, and at the ends of the building the 
triangular pediments formed by the sloping roof. The pedi- 



Plan of the Parthenon, Athens 


The Parthenon included only two chambers. 
The rear room stored sacred vessels and furni¬ 
ture used in worship, together with State treas¬ 
ure and offerings placed there for safekeeping. 
The second and larger room (cella), which 
measured exactly one hundred feet in length, 
contained a gold and ivory statue of Athena by 
the sculptor Phidias. 





























ORIENTAL, GREEK, AND ROMAN COINS 


i. Lydian coin of about 700 b.c. ; the material is electrum, a compound of gold and sil¬ 
ver. 2. Gold daric, a Persian coin worth about $5. 3. Hebrew silver shekel. 4. Athenian 
silver tetradrachm, showing Athena, her olive branch, and sacred owl. 5. Roman bronze as 
(2 cents) of about 217 b.c.; the symbols are the head of Janus and the prow of a 
ship. 6. Bronze sestertius (5 cents), struck in Nero’s reign; the emperor, who carries a spear, 
is followed by a second horseman bearing a banner. 7. Silver denarius (20 cents), of about 
99 b.c. ; it shows a bust of Roma and three citizens voting. 8. Gold solidus ($5) of Honorius, 
about 400 a.d.; the emperor wears a diadem and carries a scepter. 







ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL GEMS 


i. Steatite, from Crete; two lions with forefeet on a pedestal; above a sun. 2. Sar¬ 
donyx from Elis; a goddess holding up a goat by the horns. 3. Rock crystal; a bearded 
Triton. 4. Carnelian; a youth playing a trigonon. 5. Chalcedony from Athens; a Bac¬ 
chante. 6. Sard; a woman reading a manuscript roll; before her a lyre. 7. Carnelian; 
Theseus. 8. Chalcedony; portrait head; Hellenistic Age. 9. Aquamarine; portrait of 
Julia, daughter of the emperor Titus. 10. Chalcedony; portrait head; Hellenistic Age. 
11. Carnelian; bust portrait of the Roman emperor Decius. 12. Beryl; portrait of Julia 
Domna, wife of the emperor Septimius Severus. 13. Sapphire; head of the Madonna. 
14. Carnelian; the judgment of Paris; Renaissance work. 15. Rock crystal; Madonna 
with Jesus and St. Joseph; probably Norman-Sicilian work. 











Art 


205 


merits were sometimes decorated with statues. Since the 
temple did not serve as a meeting place for worshipers, but 
only as a sanctuary for the deity, its interior usually had little 
ornamentation. 

Greek temples were seldom very large, for mere hugeness 
was not an object to the builders. They were not even 
lavishly decorated. Their beauty lies, most of Uniqueness 
all, in their harmonious proportions and perfect of the Greek 
symmetry. In the best examples of the Greek temple 
temple there are, for instance, no straight lines. The columns 



a. Corinthian b. Composite c. Tuscan 


Capitals 

The highly decorative Corinthian capital, modeled on acanthus leaves, came into 
fashion in Alexandrian and Roman times. The Composite capital and the plain Tuscan 
capital (derived from the Doric) were quite generally employed by the Romans. 

are not set at equal intervals, but closer together near the 
corners of the building. The shafts of the columns, instead of 
tapering upward at a uniform rate, swell slightly toward the 
center. The marble basement and steps are not perfectly 
horizontal but have a slight convexity. The artistic eyes 
of the Greeks delighted in such subtle curves. The total 
result was a structure neither too light nor too heavy, a 
structure combining strength and grace. Architecturally, 
a Greek temple is unique . 1 

There are very few remains of Greek sculpture. The 
statues of gold and ivory have long since vanished. The 
bronze statues, formerly numbered by thousands, Sculpture 
have nearly all gone into the melting pot. 

Those of marble were turned into mortar or used as build- 
i See the plates facing pages 115 and 141. 

























206 



Greek Life and Thought 


ing materials. The statues which we still possess are mainly 
copies, made in Roman times from Greek originals. It is 
as if the paintings by “the old masters” of Europe, four 
centuries ago, were now known only in the reproductions 
by modern artists of inferior powers. 

Greek sculpture existed in the two forms of bas-reliefs and 
statuary in the round. 1 Reliefs were chiefly used for temple 

pediments and friezes, and 
also for the many grave 

Varieties of monuments, 
Greek Statues con- 

sculpture sisted of the 

images of the gods set up 
in their shrines, the sculp¬ 
tures dedicated as offer¬ 
ings to divinities, and the 
figures of statesmen, gen¬ 
erals, and victorious 
athletes raised in public 
places and sanctuaries. 

The most famous of the 
fifth-century sculptors was 
Phidias and Phidias, whom 
Praxiteles Pericles made 

a counselor in all matters 
relating to the embellish¬ 
ment of Athens (§ 44). 
His statues have all dis¬ 
appeared, but some of 
the Parthenon bas-reliefs which have survived are probably 
by his hand or, at any rate, were carved under his direction. 
Praxiteles, another great Athenian sculptor, lived during 
the fourth century. Ancient treatises on art catalogue 
about fifty of his productions, nearly all dealing with myth¬ 
ological subjects. The world is fortunate in still possessing 
an original work by Praxiteles — a statue of the god Hermes 
1 See the plates facing pages 108 and 109. 


Francois Vase 

Archaeological Museum, Florence 

A black-figured, terracotta vase of about 
600 b.c.; found in Italy. It is nearly three 
feet in height. The figures and scenes on the 
vase illustrate Greek mythology. 




Art 


207 


holding the boy Dionysus. This was found, not many years 
ago, by the excavators at Olympia (§ 35). 

Greek painters enjoyed a high reputation in antiquity. 
Unfortunately, their easel pictures, which were done in water- 
color, have not survived. We possess some painting and 
remarkable miniatures, produced by grinding minor arts 
colors in heated liquid wax and applying them to wooden or 
ivory objects. We also possess many painted vases, usually 
the production of ordinary craftsmen, but remarkable for 
artistic excellence. The same is true of their metal work, 
gems, and coins. 1 The Greek feeling for beauty impressed 
itself upon everything which the hands of a Greek workman 
made. 

Our debt to the Greeks is above all an intellectual one, 
due to their preeminence in such fields as literature and phi¬ 
losophy, science, and art. In Greece, it has been The Greek 
said, men first learned to be truly human; to s enius 
develop the body, to train the mind, to purify and refine 
the spirit. The Greeks were marked off from their prede¬ 
cessors in the Orient by a great love of speculation and dis¬ 
cussion, by an eager curiosity which led them to search out 
the cause of things, by a wonderful feeling for the beautiful, 
and by a desire to live their lives in accordance with reason. 
No other people has surpassed or even equaled them in these 
respects. 


For Explanation 


palestra 

lyre 

tunic 

Lyceum 

Academy 

Great Panathensea 

Dionysus 

Pindar 

AEschylus 

Sophocles 


Plutarch 

sophists 

Plato 


Euripides 


Aristophanes 

Thucydides 

Xenophon 


Aristotle 

Epicureanism 

Stoicism 


Euclid 

Archimedes 

Ptolemaic System 

Hippocrates 

Pytheas 

Eratosthenes 

Doric order 

Ionic order 

Phidias 

Praxiteles 


1 See the plates facing pages 204 and 205. 


208 


Greek Life and Thought 


For Discussion 

1. What did the Greeks understand by a “liberal” education? 

2. How did the position of women at Athens differ from their position in 
Homeric Greece? 

3. What religious festivals at Athens honored Athena and Dionysus, 
respectively? 

4. Mention some differences between the ancient and the modern drama. 

5. Distinguish between epic, lyric, and dramatic poetry. When and how 
did each poetical form arise among the Greeks? 

6. Contrast Herodotus and Thucydides as historians. 

7. What is the “Socratic method” of teaching? 

8. “Socrates may be shortly described as a man who went about asking 
‘why?’” Explain this statement. 

9. Can you find examples of any of the Greek architectural orders in 
buildings familiar to you? 

10. Discuss the appropriateness of the terms: severe Doric, graceful Ionic, 
and ornate Corinthian. 

11. How do you account for the almost total loss of original Greek statues? 

42. Name several famous works of Greek sculpture which exist to-day only 

in Roman copies. 

13. What is your favorite Greek statue? Why do you like it? 

14. “Our laws, our literature, our religion, our arts, have their roots in 
Greece.” Does this statement claim too much for the Greeks? 

For Further Study 

1. Arrange a debate on the relative value of Stoicism and Epicureanism 
as philosophies of life. 

2. Trace the growth of geographical knowledge from Homer’s time to 
that of Ptolemy (maps, pages 109 and 201). 

3. Explain the following architectural terms: base, shaft, capital, 
architrave, frieze, cornice, and pediment (illustration, page 203). 

4. Write an essay (500 words) describing an imaginary walk on the 
Athenian Acropolis in the time of Pericles. 

5. Read in Milton’s Paradise Regained (bk. iv, 11. 238-282) the descrip¬ 
tion of ancient Athens. 

6. Account for the origin of our words pedagogue, gymnastics, music, 
grammar, lyric, tragedy, comedy, theater, orchestra, chorus, sophist, 
academy, lyceum, logic, epicurean, and stoic. 

Supplementary 

Webster, Readings in Early European History, chapter xi, “The Trial and 
Death of Socrates.” 


Part IF 


CLASSICAL CIVILIZATION: ROME 


(Chapters IX-XII) 


Rome, as we learn in Chapter IX, first appears obscurely as a 
city-state of Latium in Italy. Hundreds of years passed before 
this little Latin republic had grown strong enough to annex her 
immediate neighbors and then to conquer the Italian peninsula. 
Rome’s conquests were so important because she at once began 
to make the Italian peoples like herself in blood, speech, customs, 
and manners. She began in Italy the process of Romanization 
which she was later to extend to other countries of western Europe. 

Chapter X continues the account of Rome’s triumphal progress, 
which never ceased until she had overthrown her great rival, 
Carthage, and had brought all the Mediterranean lands under 
her sway. This expansion familiarized the Romans with Greek 
culture, especially with Greek culture as affected by contact with 
the Orient after Alexander’s conquests, so that henceforth a 
Graeco-Roman, or classical, civilization prevailed throughout the 
basin of the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, the old republican in¬ 
stitutions broke down, as the result of foreign warfare and in¬ 
ternal conflict. At the close of the last century b.c. Julius Caesar 
and Octavian (Augustus) made over the government and set up 
what is called the Roman Empire. 

Chapter XI summarizes the history of the Roman Empire from 
its foundation until its practical division into two empires at the 
end of the fourth century of our era. For four hundred years and 
more “Rome was the whole world, and all the world was Rome.” 

The Greeks and Romans reached so high a cultural level that 
they could not fail to influence profoundly the less advanced and 
even barbarous peoples of Europe, who have grown into the lead¬ 
ing nations of to-day. There was a transmission of classical 
civilization from its Mediterranean center to western Europe. 
The Romans had most to do with this westward movement, be¬ 
cause their conquests brought Italy, Spain, and France, as well 
as part of Germany and Britain, into one mighty empire. Great 
builders, great governors, and great lawgivers, the Romans set 
their abiding mark on much of the ancient world. As is shown in 
Chapter XII, herein lies “the grandeur that was Rome.” 



CHAPTER IX 


THE RISE OF ROME 

Action, achievement, and, as ends to these, order, system, law, not 
attention to ideas or ideals, mark the Roman nature. 

— E. Benjamin Andrews 

The Romans were, in fact, the most practical people in history; and this 
enabled them to supply what was wanting to the civilization of the Mediter¬ 
ranean basin in the work of the Greeks. 

— W. Warde Fowler 

65. Italy and Sicily 

The peninsula of Italy is long and narrow. It reaches 
nearly seven hundred miles from the Alps to the sea, but 
measures only about one hundred miles across, The Apen- 
except in the Po Valley. The shape of Italy is 
determined by the course of the Apennines. Branching off 
from the Alpine chain at the Gulf of Genoa, they cross 
the peninsula in an easterly direction almost to the Adriatic. 
They then turn sharply to the southeast and parallel the 
coast for a considerable distance. The plains of central 
Italy, in consequence, are all on the western slope of the 
mountains. In southern Italy the Apennines swerve to the 
southwest and penetrate the “toe” of the peninsula. 

Italy may be divided into a northern, a central, and a 
southern section. These divisions, however, are determined 
by the direction of the mountains and not, as in Divisions of 
Greece, chiefly by inlets of the sea. Northern Ita b 
Italy contains the important region known in ancient times 
as Cisalpine Gaul. The name, which means “Gaul on this 
(the Italian) side of the Alps,” was used by the Romans 
to distinguish the region from “Gaul beyond the Alps,” 

211 

















































































































213 


Italy and Sicily 

or Transalpine Gaul. It is a perfectly level plain two hundred 
miles in length, watered by the Po ( Padus ), which the Ro¬ 
mans called the “king of rivers,” because of its length and 
many tributary streams. Central Italy, lying south of the 
Apennines, includes seven districts, of which the three on 
the western coast — Etruria, Latium, and Campania — were 
most conspicuous in ancient history. Southern Italy, be¬ 
cause of its warm climate and deeply indented coast, early 
attracted many Greek colonists. Their colonies here came 
to be known as Magna Grsecia, or Great Greece (§ 38). 

The triangular-shaped island of Sicily is separated from 
Italy by the Strait of Messina, a channel which, at the 
narrowest part, is only two miles wide. Sicily g 
at one time must have been joined to the main¬ 
land. Its mountains, which rise at their highest point in the 
majestic volcano of JE tna, nearly eleven thousand feet above 
sea level, are a continuation of those of Italy. Lying in the 
center of the Mediterranean and in the direct route of mer¬ 
chants and colonists from every direction, Sicily has always 
been a meeting place of nations. Greeks, Carthaginians, 
and Romans contended in antiquity for the possession of this 
beautiful island. 

Geographical conditions exerted the same profound in¬ 
fluence on Italian history as on that of Greece (§ 31). In the 
first place, the peninsula of Italy is not cut up by Influence of 
a tangle of mountains into many small districts, geographical 
It was therefore easier for the Italians than for condltlons 
the Greeks to establish one large and united state. In the 
second place, Italy has comparatively few good harbors, but 
possesses upland pastures and rich lowland plains. The 
Italian peoples consequently developed cattle raising and 
agriculture much earlier than commerce. Finally, the loca¬ 
tion of Italy, with its best harbors and most numerous 
islands on the western side, for a long time brought the 
peninsula into closer relations with the western islands and 
the coasts of Gaul, Spain, and North Africa than with the 
countries bordering on the eastern shores of the Mediter- 


214 


The Rise of Rome 


ranean. If Greece faced the civilized peoples of the East, 
Italy fronted the barbarous tribes of the West. 

66. Italian Peoples 

The earliest civilization in Italy was introduced there by 
the Etruscans. They came by sea, probably from Asia 

Etruscans Minor, and as early as 900 B.c. founded a strong 
ruscans S f- a j- e j n the region called after them Etruria 

(modern Tuscany). Their dominions in time extended along 
the coast from the Bay of Naples to the Gulf of Genoa and 
inland to the Po Valley as far as 
the Alps. Their colonies occupied 
the shores of Sardinia and Corsica 
and their fleets swept the Tyr¬ 
rhenian Sea. These Etruscans are 
a mysterious people. No one has 
been able to read their language. 
It is quite unlike any Indo-Euro¬ 
pean tongue, though written in an 
alphabet borrowed from Greek 
settlers in Italy. Many other cul¬ 
tural influences reached the Etrus¬ 
cans from abroad. Babylonia gave 
to them the principle of the round 
arch and the practice of divination. 
Etruscan graves contain Egyptian 
seals marked with hieroglyphs and vases bearing Greek 
designs. The Etruscans were skillful workers in bronze, 
iron, and gold. They built cities with massive walls, arched 
gates, paved streets, and underground drains. A great part 
of Etruscan civilization was ultimately absorbed in that of 
Rome. 

The Etruscans were followed by the Greeks. Greek colo¬ 
nies began to be planted in southern Italy after the middle of 
the eighth century B.c. (§ 38). The map shows that these 
were all on or near the sea, from the Gulf of Taranto to 



A Noble Etruscan Lady 


A wall painting from an Etruscan 
tomb at Tarquinii. 







Italian Peoples 


215 


Campania. North of the “heel” of Italy extends an almost 
harborless coast, where nothing tempted the Greeks to 
settle. North of Campania, again, they found 
the good harbors already occupied by the Etrus- Greeks 
cans. The Greeks, in consequence, never penetrated deeply 
into Italy. Room was left for the native Italians, under the 
leadership of Rome, to build up their own power in the 
peninsula. 

The Italians were an Indo-European people who spoke a 
language closely related to both Greek and the Celtic tongues 
of western Europe. They entered the Italian 
peninsula through the numerous Alpine passes, aians 
probably not long after the Greeks had found a way into the 
Balkan peninsula (§ 33). We must assume that the invaders, 
having overcome all armed opposition, mingled more or less 
with the earlier inhabitants of Italy. There is every reason 
to believe that the historic Italians, like the historic Greeks, 
were a mixed people. 

The Italians who settled in the central, eastern, and south¬ 
ern parts of the peninsula were highlanders. The western 
Italians, or Latins, were lowlanders. They lived 
in Latium, originally only the “flat land” ex- e atms 
tending south of the Tiber River between the mountains and 
the sea. The Latin plain is about thirty by forty miles in 
size. Its soil, though not very productive, can nevertheless 
support a considerable population devoted to herding and 
farming. The Latins, as they increased in number, gave up 
tribal life and established little city-states, like those of 
Greece. The need of defense against their Etruscan neigh¬ 
bors across the Tiber and the Italian tribes in the adjacent 
mountains bound them together. They united at a very 
early period in the Latin League, under the headship of Alba 
Longa. The members held a yearly festival on the sacred 
Alban Mount, 1 where they celebrated athletic games and 
offered sacrifice to their chief god, Jupiter. One of the cities 
in this league was Rome. 

x See the map, page 218. 


216 


The Rise of Rome 


67. The Romans 

We do not know when Rome was founded. The Romans 
themselves believed that it was in 753 B.c., from which year 
Founding of they reckoned dates. Modern excavations have 
Rome shown, however, that the site of the city was 

occupied several centuries earlier. ‘‘Eternal Rome” began 
as a settlement of the Latins on the Palatine Hill, the central 
eminence in a group of low hills just south of the Tiber and 
about fourteen miles from its ancient mouth. Another settle¬ 
ment, which seems to have been an outpost of the Sabines, 
arose on the Quirinal Hill opposite the Palatine community. 
The rival towns finally united into one state. The low 
marshy land between the Palatine and the Quirinal then be¬ 
came the Forum, or common market place, and the steep 
rock, called the Capitoline, formed the common citadel. 

The union of the Palatine and Quirinal communities 
greatly increased the area and population of the Roman city. 
The city of f n course °f time settlements were made on the 
the Seven five neighboring hills, and these, too, cast in their 
lot with Rome. A fortification, the so-called 
“Servian Wall,” was built to bring them all within the 
boundaries of the enlarged community. Rome thus became 
the City of the Seven Hills. 

Rome, from the start, owed much to a fortunate location. 
The city was easy to defend. It lay far enough inland to be 
Advantages secure against sea-raiders, and its numerous hills 
of the site of formed a natural fortress. The city was also 
well placed for commerce on the only navigable 
stream in Italy, so that it could become the market center 
of Latium and at the same time control the north-and-south 
trade route between Etruria and Campania. Finally, Rome 
was almost in the center of Italy, a position from which its 
warlike inhabitants could most easily advance to the con¬ 
quest of the entire peninsula. As an ancient historian re¬ 
marked, the site of Rome was “peculiarly adapted to secure 
the growth of a city.” 


217 


Rome under the Kings 

We cannot trace in detail the development of early Rome. 
It is certain, however, that in the course of about two centu¬ 
ries Rome had come to control the south bank 
of the Tiber from the highlands to the sea and EarlyRome 
had succeeded Alba Longa as head of the Latin League. She 
had become the leading city of Latium. 

68. Rome under the Kings 

The early Romans did not keep written records to pre¬ 
serve an account of the beginning and growth of their city. 



The Capitoline She-Wolf 

Conservatory Museum, Rome 

The bronze, life-size figure of a wolf is very ancient, probably dating from the early 
fifth century b.c. It seems to have been of Etruscan workmanship. The figures of 
the twins are modern additions. 

Like the early Greeks, they relied on legends. These were 
afterward worked up by their historians into a Legends of 
complete narrative of events for two centuries the seven 
and a half, when Rome was ruled by seven kings 
kings. The Romans accepted this narrative as true. 

According to the legends, Rome began as a colony of Alba 
Longa, the capital of Latium. The founder of this city was 
Ascanius, son of the Trojan prince TEneas, who Romulus and 
had escaped from Troy on its capture by the Remus 
Greeks and after long wanderings had reached the coast of 




218 


The Rise of Rome 


Italy. Many generations afterward, when Numitor sat on 
the throne of Alba Longa, his younger brother, Amulius, 
plotted against him and drove him into exile. He had 
Numitor’s son put to death and forced the daughter, Rhea 
Silvia, to take the vows of a Vestal Virgin. Rhea, beloved 
by Mars, the god of war, gave birth to twin boys of more 
than human size and beauty. The wicked Amulius ordered 
the children to be set adrift in a basket on the Tiber. Heaven, 



however, guarded these offspring of a god; the river 
cast them ashore near the Palatine Hill, and a she-wolf 
came and nursed them. There they were discovered by a 
shepherd, who reared them in his own household. When 
the twins, Romulus and Remus, reached manhood, they 
killed Amulius and restored their grandfather to his kingdom. 
They then set forth to build a new city on the Palatine, 
where they had been rescued. Romulus marked out the 







219 


Roman Society 

boundary of the city. Remus, who in derision leaped over 
the half-finished wall, was slain by Romulus in anger. He 
thus became the sole founder of Rome and its first king. 

Romulus was followed by a Sabine, Numa Pompilius, who 
taught the Romans the arts of peace and the worship of the 
gods. Another king destroyed Alba Longa and Successors of 
brought the inhabitants to Rome. The last of Romulus 
Rome’s seven kings was an Etruscan named Tarquin the 
Proud. His tyranny finally provoked an uprising, and Rome 
became a republic (about 509 b.c.). 

These famous tales have become a part of the world’s lit¬ 
erature and still possess value to the historian. They show 
us what the Romans themselves believed about Significance 
the foundation and growth of their city. Some- of the legends 
times they refer to what seem to be facts, such as the first 
settlement on the Palatine, the union with the Sabines on 
the Quirinal, the conquest of Alba Longa, and Etruscan rule 
at Rome. The legends also contain so many references to 
customs and beliefs that they are a great help in understand¬ 
ing the social life and religion of the early Romans. 


69. Roman Society 

Agriculture was the chief occupation of the early Roman 
people. “When our forefathers,” said an ancient writer, 
“would praise a worthy man, 
they praised him as a good 
farmer and a good Economic 
landlord; and conditions 

they believed that praise 
could go no further. ’ ’ Roman 
farmers raised large crops of 
grain — the staple product 
of ancient Italy. Cattle- 
breeding, also, must have 
been an important pursuit, 
since in early times prices 



An Italian Plowman 

A bronze group from Arezzo, Italy. The 
peasant holds a pole. A front view of the 
yoke appears above. 

were estimated in oxen and 






220 


The Rise of Rome 


sheep. No great inequalities of wealth existed. Few citi¬ 
zens were very rich; few were very poor. The members of 
each household made their own clothing from flax or wool, 
and fashioned out of wood or clay what utensils were needed 
for their simple life. The long use of a bronze currency 
indicates that gold and silver must have been very rare 
among the Romans, and luxury almost unknown. 

These early Romans were a hardy breed, abstemious in 
food and drink, iron-willed, vigorous, and strong. Virgil, 
Social one of their poets, says of them: “We carry our 

conditions children to the streams and harden them in the 
bitter, icy water; as boys they spend wakeful nights over 
the chase and tire out the whirlwind; but in manhood, un¬ 
wearied by toil and trained to 
poverty, they subdue the soil 
with their mattocks or shake 
towns in war.” Deep down in 
the Roman’s heart was the 
proud conviction that Rome 
should rule over all her neigh¬ 
bors. For this he freely shed 
his blood; for this he bore 
hardship, however severe, with¬ 
out complaint. Before every¬ 
thing else, he was a dutiful citizen and a true patriot. Such 
were the sturdy men who on their farms in Latium formed 
the backbone of the Roman state. Their character has set 
its mark on history for all time. 

The family formed the unit of Roman society. Its most 
notable feature was the unlimited authority of the father. 
The Roman In his house he reigned an absolute king. His 
family wife had no i e g a i rights: he could sell her into 

slavery or divorce her at will. Nevertheless, no ancient 
people honored women more highly than the Romans. A 
Roman wife was the mistress of the home, as her husband 
was its master. Though her education was not carried far, 
we often find the Roman matron taking a lively interest 



Early Roman Bar Money 


A bar of bronze having the value of an 
ox, whose figure is stamped upon it. 
Dates from the fourth century b.c. 





Roman Religion 221 

in public affairs, and aiding her husband both in politics 
and business. It was the women, as well as the men, who 
helped to make Rome great among the nations. Over his 
sons and his unmarried daughters the Roman father ruled 
supreme as over his wife. He brought up his children to be 
sober, silent, modest in their bearing, and, above all, obedient. 
Their misdeeds he might punish with penalties as severe as 
banishment, slavery, or death. As head of the family, he 
could claim all their earnings; everything they had was his. 
The father’s great authority ceased only with his death. 
Then his sons, in turn, became lords over their families. 

A noble or distinguished Roman usually bore three names, 
called, respectively, the preenomen , the nomen , and the cogno¬ 
men. Thus in “Marcus Tullius Cicero” the first Roman 
name corresponds to our personal, or Christian names 
name; the second indicates the gens , or clan (group of fami¬ 
lies), to which he belonged; and the third marks his family. 
There were only eighteen prsenomens in common use, so that 
the personal names of Romans present a good deal of uni¬ 
formity. 

70. Roman Religion 

The Romans paid special veneration to the souls of the 
dead. The ancestors were always regarded as members of 
the household to which they belonged when worship of 
alive. The living and the dead were thus bound ancestors 
together by the closest ties. Ancestor worship greatly 
strengthened the father’s authority, for it made him the chief 
priest of the household. It also made marriage a sacred 
duty, so that a man might have children to accord him and 
his forefathers all honors after death. 

The ancient Roman house had only one large room, the 
atrium , where all members of the family lived together. It 
was entered by a single door, which, as the pro- The house- 
tection against the outside world and keeper- hold deities 
away of evil, was sacred to Janus. On the hearth, opposite 
the doorway, the housewife prepared the meals. The fire 


222 


The Rise of Rome 


that ever blazed upon it gave warmth and nourishment to 
the inmates. Here dwelt Vesta, the spirit of the kindling 
flame. The cupboard where the food was kept for future 
use came under the charge of the Penates, who blessed the 
family store. The house as a whole had its protecting spirits, 
called Lares. 

The early Roman State was only an enlarged family, and 
hence the religion of the State was modeled upon that of the 
janus and family. Some of the divinities, such as Janus 
Vesta and Vesta, were taken over with little change 

from the family worship. The entrance to the Forum formed 
a shrine of Janus. The door, or gateway, stood open in time 
of war, but shut when Rome was at peace. At the south 
end of the Forum stood the round temple of Vesta, containing 
the sacred hearth of the city. Here Vesta was served by six 
virgins of free birth, who dwelt in a kind of convent close by. 
It was their duty to keep the fire always blazing on the 
altar. If by accident the fire went out, it must be relighted 
from a “pure flame,” either by striking a spark with flint or 
by rubbing together two dry sticks. Such methods of kin¬ 
dling fire were those familiar to the prehistoric Romans. 

The Romans worshiped various gods connected with their 
lives as farmers, shepherds, and warriors. The chief divinity 
Jupiter and was Jupiter, who ruled the heavens and sent rain 

Mars and sunshine to nourish the crops. The war god 

Mars reflected the military character of the Romans. His 
sacred animal was the fierce, cruel wolf; his symbols were 
spears and shields; and his altar was the Campus Martius 
(Field of Mars) outside the city walls, where the army as¬ 
sembled in battle array. March, the first month of the old 
Roman year, was named in his honor. 

The Romans showed great hospitality in matters of re¬ 
ligion. Some of their deities were borrowed directly from 
Borrowed Greece, such as Apollo and Heracles or Hercules. 

gods A fashion also arose of identifying old Roman 

deities with those of Greece which in any way resembled 
them. Thus Juno, the wife of Jupiter, was identified with 


A ROMAN AND HIS WIFE 

Vatican Museum, Rome 
Portrait sculpture from a tombstom 









THE VESTAL VIRGINS 

After the painting by Hector Le Roux 

















Roman Religion 223 

Hera, wife of Zeus; Minerva, a goddess of wisdom, with 
Athena; and Neptune, a river god, with Poseidon. Many 
Greek myths were likewise taken over by the Romans and 
were given an Italian setting. 

The gods, if piously worshiped, stood ready to do their part. 
They sent the blessings of health, riches, long life, and good 
fortune in business and battle. The farmer, after Formal 
he sacrificed at spring sowing, felt sure that character of 
heaven would grant him an abundant harvest. worship 
The State, if it entered on a war after the necessary ceremo¬ 
nies, was believed to be certain of success. Religion thus be¬ 
came a real contract between the god and his worshipers. 
This hard, legal idea was characteristic of the practical and 
thrifty Romans, who made their deities much like them¬ 
selves. 

The Romans took many precautions, before beginning any 
enterprise, to find out what was the will of the gods and how 
divine favor might first be gained. They did not Divination 
have oracles, but they paid much attention to 
omens of all sorts. A sudden flash of lightning, an eclipse of 
the sun, a blazing comet, or an earthquake shock was an omen 
which indicated the disapproval of the gods. The Romans 
learned from their Etruscan neighbors how to predict the 
future by examining the entrails of animal victims. They 
also borrowed from the Etruscans the practice of looking for 
signs in the number, flight, and actions of birds. Divination 
of this sort was called “taking the auspices.” No public 
act, such as a vote in the assembly, an election, or a battle, 
could be begun before the gods had shown their consent by 
granting favorable auspices. 

Roman priests, who conducted the State religion, did not 
form a separate class, as in some Oriental countries. They 
were chosen, as were other magistrates, from Priesthoods 
the general body of citizens. A board, or “col¬ 
lege, ” of six priests had charge of the public auspices. An¬ 
other board, that of the pontiffs, regulated the calendar, 
kept the public annals, and looked after weights and meas- 


224 


The Rise of Rome 


ures. They were experts in all matters of religious ceremony 
and hence were very important officials. The title of the 
president of this college, Pontifex Maximus (“Supreme Pon¬ 
tiff”), is still that of the pope. 

This old Roman faith was something very different from 
what we understand by religion. It had little direct influence 
importance on morality. It did not promise rewards or 
of the state threaten punishments in a future world. Roman 
religion (194) re pgi on busied itself with the everyday life of 
man. Just as the household was bound together by the tie 



Animal Sacrifice 

Louvre, Paris 

The relief pictures an ancient Italian sacrifice of a bull, a ram, and a boar, offered to 
Mars to secure purification from sin. Notice the sacred laurel trees, the two altars, and 
the officiating magistrate, whose head is covered with the toga. He is sprinkling incense 
from a box held by an attendant. Another attendant carries a ewer with the libation. In 
the rear is the sacrificer with his ax. 

of common worship, so all the citizens were united in a com¬ 
mon reverence for the deities that guarded the State. 

71. The Roman City-State 

Early Rome formed a city-state with a threefold govern¬ 
ment, as in Homeric Greece (§36). The king had wide 

Government P owers: he was commander-in-jhief, supreme 
judge, and head of the State religion. A council 
of elders (Latin senes , “old men”) made up the Senate, which 















225 


The Roman City-State 

assisted the king in government. The popular assembly, 
whenever summoned by the king, voted on important ques¬ 
tions. 

Two magistrates, named consuls, took the king’s place in 
government after the abolition of the monarchy. The consuls 
enjoyed equal honor and authority. Unless both ^ 

j j i j The consuls 

agreed, nothing could be done. They thus served 
as a check upon each other, as was the case with the two 
Spartan kings .(§ 37). Neither could safely 
use his position to aim at unlawful rule. 

When grave danger threatened the State 
and unity of action seemed necessary, the 
Romans sometimes appointed a _ 

f r The dictator 

dictator. The consuls gave up 
their authority to him and the people put 
their property and lives entirely at his dis¬ 
posal. The dictator’s term of office might 
not exceed six months, but during this 
time he had all the power formerly wielded 
by the kings. 

The Roman city-state seems to have 
been divided, during the regal age, between 
an aristocracy and a commons, patricians 
The nobles were called patri- and P lebeians 
dans (Latin patres , “fathers”), and the 
common people were known as plebeians 
(Latin plebs, “the crowd”). The patricians 
occupied a privileged position, since they 
alone sat in the Senate and served as 
magistrates, judges, and priests. The ple¬ 
beians thus found themselves excluded from much of the 
political, legal, and religious life of Rome.. 

The oppressive sway of the patricians resulted in great 
unrest at Rome, and after the establishment of the republic 
the plebeians began to agitate for reforms. They The tribunes 
soon compelled the patricians to allow them to 
have officers of their own, called tribunes, as a means of 



Curule Chair 
and Fasces 

A consul sat on the 
curule chair, which 
much resembled our 
camp chair. The fasces 
were bundles of rods 
with an ax in each bun¬ 
dle, symbolizing the 
consul’s power to flog 
and behead offenders. 
These marks of author¬ 
ity were borrowed by 
the Romans from the 
Etruscans. 











226 


The Rise of Rome 


protection. Any tribune could veto, that is, forbid, the act 
of a magistrate which seemed to bear harshly on a citizen. 
To make sure that a tribune’s orders would be respected, his 
person was made sacred, and a solemn curse was pronounced 
upon the man who injured him or interrupted him in the 
performance of his duties. 

There now followed a struggle on the part of the plebeians 
for legal equality with the patricians. The Romans hitherto 
had had simply unwritten customs, which, as in 

The Twleve * J 

Tables, 451- Athens before Draco’s legislation (§37), were 
(ii 0 ? C * interpreted by patrician judges. The plebeians 
demanded that the customs be set down in writ¬ 
ing — be made laws — so that every one might know them 
and secure justice in the courts. A commission was finally 
appointed to prepare a code. The laws were engraved on 
twelve bronze tablets and set up in the Forum. Some sen¬ 
tences from these Twelve Tables have come down to us in 
rude, unpolished Latin. They mark the beginning of Rome’s 
legal system (§ 88). 

It would take too long to tell how the plebeians broke down 
the patrician monopoly of office-holding. The result was that 
Plebeian in time they became eligible to the consulships 
office-holding an d other magistracies, to seats in the Senate, and 
even to the priesthoods. Henceforth all citizens, whether 
patricians or plebeians, enjoyed the same rights at Rome. 


72. Political Life in Republican Rome 

The Roman State called itself a republic — respublica , “a 
thing of the people.” Roman citizens in their assemblies 
Roman de- made the laws, elected the magistrates, and de¬ 
mocracy cided questions of war and peace. In theory, 
at any rate, the people were supreme. In practice, however, 
democracy in Rome was far less real and effective than at 
Athens and in other Greek city-states (§ 43). 

The Roman assemblies themselves were not organized 
democratically. The citizens did not enjoy the right of 


Political Life in Republican Rome 


227 


public meeting; they could only be called together by a 
magistrate. When so summoned, they could not frame, 
criticize, or amend public measures, for no one Assemblies 
but a magistrate or some person whom he author¬ 
ized to speak for him was allowed to address a public gather¬ 
ing. Roman citizens, in short, could only say “yes” or “no” 
to ar proposal made to them. It is easy to see that the power 
of the people in their assemblies was very much limited by 
the magistrates. 

Rome had many magistrates. Besides the two consuls 
and an occasional dictator there were the ten tribunes, the 
praetors, who served as judges, and the quaestors, Magistrates 
or keepers of the treasury. The two censors were agls ra es 
also very important officers. It was their business to make 
an enumeration or census of the citizens and to assess 
property for taxation. The censors almost always were 
reverend seniors who had held the consulship and enjoyed 
a high reputation for justice and wisdom. Their office grew 
steadily in significance, especially after the censors began 
to exercise an oversight of the private life of the Romans. 
They could expel a senator from his seat for immorality and 
deprive any citizen of his vote. We are told that once they 
punished a man for neglecting his farm, another for having 
kissed his wife in the presence of his daughter, and another 
for spending too much money on a kinsman’s funeral. The 
censors thus came to sit in judgment on the virtue of all 
Roman citizens. 

When a Roman desired election to a public office, he had 
to go among the people and ask for their votes. He used 
to appear in the Forum, the Campus Martius, “Career of 
and other places of public resort, clothed in honors” 
white (candidatus ), the original sense of our word “candi¬ 
date.” The law forbade him to bribe the citizens, but 
allowed him to curry favor with them by giving shows, 
banquets, and public games. A man usually passed through 
the offices in regular order. He began his political life by 
getting elected to a qusestorship and might later become 


Genoa' 














































































































229 


Political Life in Republican Rome 

praetor, consul, and censor. If he distinguished himself in 
this “career of honors,” he entered the Senate and became 
a member of the senatorial aristocracy. 

The authority of the magistrates was much limited by the 
Senate. This body contained about three hundred persons, 
who held their seats generally for life. The va¬ 
cancies which occurred in its membership were e ena e 
filled, as a rule, by those who had held one or more of the 
higher magistracies. There sat in the Senate every man who, 
as statesman, general, or diplomatist, had served his country 
well. 

It was almost inevitable that the Senate should become 
supreme at Rome. The magistrates changed year by year; 
the Senate was a permanent body of seasoned The Senate 
men, ripe in age and of long experience in public and the 
affairs. Naturally enough, the magistrates, who ma s istrates 
themselves expected some day to sit in the Senate, would be 
disposed to listen to its advice and to follow its suggestions. 
They even sought beforehand the approval of the Senate 
for any new measures which they proposed to bring before 
the popular assemblies. The magistrates became in this way 
the agents and servants of the Senate. 

The Senate furnished an admirable school for debate. Any 
senator could speak as long and as often as he chose. The op¬ 
portunities for discussion were numerous, for all Powers ex _ 
weighty matters came before this august assem- ercised by 
blage. It managed finances and public works. the Senate 
It looked after the State religion. It conducted wars, re¬ 
ceived ambassadors from foreign countries, made alliances, 
and administered conquered territories. The Senate formed, 
in fact, the real governing body of the republic. 

The Senate proved to be not unworthy of its high position. 
For two centuries, while Rome was winning dominion over 
Italy and the Mediterranean, that body held the « An assem- 
wisest and noblest Romans of the time. To Wy of kings” 
these men office meant a public trust — an opportunity to 
serve their country with distinction and honor. The Senate, 


230 


The Rise of Rome 


in its best days, was a splendid example of the foresight, 
energy, and wisdom of republican Rome. An admiring 
foreigner once called it “an assembly of kings.” 

73. Expansion of Rome over Italy 

The first centuries of the republic were filled with constant 
warfare. The Romans needed all their skill, bravery, and 
The Gallic patriotism to keep back the Etruscans on the 
invasion north and the wild tribes of the Apennines. 
About 390 b.c. their city was brought near to destruction 
by an invasion of the Gauls, a people of Celtic speech, who 
lived in central and western Europe. These barbarians, 
whose huge bulk and enormous weapons struck terror to the 
hearts of their adversaries, poured through the Alpine passes 1 
and ravaged far and wide. At the river Allia, only a few 
miles from Rome, they annihilated a Roman army. The 
city, we are told, was panic-stricken. No one thought of 
defending the walls. Some of the citizens withdrew to the 
citadel on the Capitoline Hill, while others, having hastily 
removed the sacred fire, fled to neighboring towns. The 
old, gray-bearded senators determined not to survive the 
disaster. Each one dressed himself in his official robes and 
sat down at the door of his house, calmly awaiting death. 
When the Gauls found them, they marveled, thinking them 
to be more than human. At last a Gaul ventured to stroke 
the long beard of a senator, named Papirius, who immediately 
struck him with his ivory wand. Papirius was instantly 
slain, and then all the other senators were put to the sword. 
The Gauls plundered and burned Rome, but could not cap¬ 
ture the citadel. Finally, we are told, the Romans induced 
them to withdraw by the payment of a heavy ransom — 
one thousand pounds of gold. Another tale, more favorable 
to Roman pride, declares that when the gold was being 
weighed out, Brennus, the Gallic chieftain, threw his sword 
in the scales, exclaiming, Vx victis! “Woe to the van- 
1 See the map, page 100. 


231 


Expansion of Rome over Italy 

quished!” At this moment the Roman general, Camillus, 
appeared with another army and forced the Gauls to retire 
without their booty. “Rome,” he said, “is ransomed with 
iron, not with gold.” 

The Gallic tide receded as swiftly as it had come, and 
Rome rose from her ashes mightier than ever. About half 
a century later she was able to subdue her Rome ^ 
former allies, the Latins, and to destroy the pre me in 
Latin League (§67). Rome now ruled in La- Latium, 338 
tium and southern Etruria and had begun to ex¬ 
tend her sway over Campania. She was ready to contest 
the supremacy of the peninsula with the one Italian people 
able to meet her on equal terms — the Samnites. 

Romans and Samnites were well matched in numbers, 
courage, and military skill. Nearly half a century Rome su 
of hard fighting was required before Rome gained preme in 
the upper hand. The close of the Samnite wars ^^ Italy » 
found her supreme in central Italy. Her author¬ 
ity was recognized from the upper Apennines almost to the 
foot of the peninsula. 

The wealthy Greek cities of southern Italy offered a 
tempting prize to Roman greed. Many of them before long 
received Roman garrisons and accepted the rule Rome gu 
of the great Latin republic. Tarentum, however, preme in 
the most important of the Greek cities, held j^y he 2 r g 4BC 
jealously to her independence. Unable single- 
handed to face the Romans, Tarentum turned to Greece for 
aid. She called on Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, the finest soldier 
of his age. Pyrrhus led twenty-five thousand mercenary 
soldiers into Italy, an army almost as large as Alexander’s. 
The Romans could not break the bristling ranks of the Greek 
phalanx, and they shrank back in terror before the huge war 
elephants which Pyrrhus had brought with him. The in¬ 
vader won the first battle, but lost many of his best troops. 
He then offered peace on condition that the Romans should 
give up their possessions in southern Italy. The Senate re¬ 
turned the proud reply that Rome would not treat with the 


232 


The Rise of Rome 


enemy while he stood on Italian soil. A second battle was so 
bitterly contested that Pyrrhus declared, “Another such 
victory, and I am lost.” Weary of the struggle, Pyrrhus 
now crossed over to Sicily to aid his countrymen against 
the Carthaginians. The rapid progress of the Roman arms 
called him back, only to meet a crushing defeat. Pyrrhus 
then withdrew in disgust to Greece; Tarentum fell; and 
Rome soon established her control over southern Italy. 

Rome now ruled from the Strait of Messina northward 
to the Arno and Rubicon rivers. All the peoples of this part 
Roman Italy Italian peninsula acknowledged her sway. 

It should be noticed, however, that as yet Rome 
governed only the central and southern parts of what is the 
modern kingdom of Italy. The Gauls held the Po Valley, 
while most of Sicily and Sardinia remained in possession of 
the Carthaginians. 

74. Italy under Roman Rule 

As Rome extended her rule in Italy, she bestowed upon 
the conquered peoples citizenship. It formed a great gift, 
Roman for a Roman citizen enjoyed many privileges, 

citizenship He could hold and exchange property under the 
protection of Roman law; could contract a valid marriage 
which made his children themselves citizens; and could 
vote in the popular assemblies at Rome and hold public 
office there. This extension of the citizenship to those who 
formerly had been enemies was something quite new in 
history, and it was the great secret of Rome’s success as a 
governing power. 

Rome was a city-state, and her rule over Italy formed in 
the fullest sense the rule of a city. She was unfamiliar, as the 
No repre- Athenians were unfamiliar (§ 43), with the prin- 
sentative ciple of representative government. Citizens 
government w h 0 lived outside of Rome could not send repre¬ 
sentatives to discuss and resolve in their behalf. They had 
to visit in person the capital city when they wished to 


233 


Italy under Roman Rule 

exercise their political rights. Few persons, of course, would 
trudge on foot or ride on horseback many miles to Rome in 
order to cast their votes or stand for office. The elections, 
moreover, were not all held on one day as with us, but con¬ 
suls, praetors, and other magistrates were elected on separate 
days, while meetings of the assemblies might be held in any 
part of the year. A country peasant who really tried to 
fulfill his duties as a citizen would have had little time for 
anything else. In practice, therefore, the city populace of 
Rome had the controlling voice in ordinary legislation. The 
Romans were never able to remedy this grave defect in their 
political system. 

The conquered tribes and cities of Italy which did not 
receive Roman citizenship at this period were not treated 
as complete subjects. Rome called them, rather, „ Frien ds and 
her “friends and allies/’ They lost the right of allies” of 
declaring war on one another, of making treaties, Rome 
and of coining money. Rome otherwise left them to govern 
themselves, never imposing tribute on them and only re¬ 
quiring them to furnish soldiers for the Roman armies in 
time of war. The Greek cities in southern Italy provided 
warships instead of troops. These allied communities oc¬ 
cupied a large part of the peninsula. 

The Romans established what were called Latin colonies 
in various parts of Italy. The colonists, usually veteran 
soldiers or poor plebeians who wanted farms, sur- Latin colonies 
rendered Roman citizenship. When the list of col¬ 
onists was made up, they all marched forth in military array 
to take possession of their land and build their city. Hav¬ 
ing sprung from Rome, they always remained faithful to her 
interests. The colonies thus formed permanent settlements 
to keep the conquered peoples loyal and at the same time to 
spread the Latin language, law, and culture throughout Italy. 
There were, ultimately, thirty-five of these Latin colonies. 1 

The colonies were united with one another and with Rome 
by an extensive system of roads, which are traced on the 
1 See the map, page 228. 


234 


The Rise of Rome 


accompanying map. 1 The first great road, known as the 
Appian Way, was carried as far as Capua and was later ex- 
Roman roads tended to Brindisi ( Brundusium ) on the Adriatic, 
° whence travelers embarked for Greece. Other 

trunk lines were soon built in Italy, and from them a network 
of smaller highways penetrated every part of the peninsula. 
Roman roads were intended to facilitate the rapid dispatch 
of troops, supplies, and official messages into every corner of 
Italy. Hence the roads ran, as much as possible, in straight 
lines and on easy grades. Nothing was allowed to obstruct 
their course. Engineers cut through or tunneled the hills, 
bridged rivers and gorges, and spanned low, swampy lands 
with viaducts of stone. These magnificent highways were 
free to the public, serving as avenues of trade and travel, and 
so helping to bring the Italian peoples into touch with Rome. 


The army 


75. Roman Warfare 

The conquest of Italy by the Romans testified to their 
prowess as soldiers. Like the Spartans (§ 37), they were 
professionals in the art of war. All Roman citi¬ 
zens between the ages of seventeen and forty-six 
were liable to military service. These men were mainly 
landowners — hardy, intelligent peasants, who knew how 
to fight and how to obey orders. An army in the field con¬ 
sisted of one or more legions, each having about three 
thousand heavy-armed footmen, twelve hundred light in¬ 
fantry, and three hundred horsemen. After the conquest 
of Italy the states allied with Rome had to provide soldiers, 
chiefly archers and cavalry. The Romans, in carrying on war, 
employed not only their citizens but also their subjects. 

The legion offered a sharp contrast to the unwieldy phalanx 
(§48). Roman soldiers usually fought in an open order, 
with the heavy-armed infantry arranged in three 
lines: first, the younger men; next, the more ex¬ 
perienced warriors; and lastly the veterans. A battle began 
1 See the map, page 228. 


Tactics 


Roman Warfare 


235 


with skirmishing by the light troops, which moved to the 
front and discharged their darts to harass the enemy. The 
companies 5 of the first line next flung their javelins at a dis¬ 
tance of from ten to twenty paces and then, wielding their 
terrible short swords, came at once to close quarters with the 
foe. It was like a volley of musketry followed by a fierce bayo¬ 
net charge. If the attack proved unsuccessful, the wearied 
soldiers withdrew to the rear through the gaps in the line 


Roman Camp 

behind. The second line now marched forward to the attack; 
if it was repulsed, there was still the third line of steady 
veterans for the last and decisive blow. 

A very remarkable part of the Roman military system con¬ 
sisted in the use of fortified camps. Every time the army 
halted, if only for a single night, the legionaries Fortified 
intrenched themselves within a square inclosure. cam P s 
It was protected by a ditch, an earthen mound, and a pali- 

































236 


The Rise of Rome 


sade of stakes. This camp formed a little city with its 
streets, its four gates, a forum, and the headquarters of the 
general. Behind the walls of such a fortress an* army was 
always at liberty to accept or decline a battle. As a proverb 
said, the Romans often conquered by “sitting still.” 

Roman soldiers lived under the strictest discipline. They 
owed absolute, unquestioning obedience to their commander, 
Discipline- who, for various offenses, could condemn them 
rewards and to death without trial. The sentinel who slept on 
his watch, the legionary who disobeyed an order 
or threw away his arms on the field of battle, might be 
scourged with rods and then beheaded. Sometimes a cul¬ 
prit had to run the gantlet between two lines of soldiers 
who beat him with clubs. If he escaped, he became an 
outcast and might never return home. When an entire 
body of troops was condemned, the general selected by lot 
every tenth man and sent him to execution. The soldiers 
were encouraged to deeds of valor by various marks of dis¬ 
tinction, which the general presented to them in the presence 
of the entire army. The highest reward was the “civic 
crown” of oak leaves, granted to one who had saved the life 
of a comrade on the battlefield. 

The State sometimes bestowed on a victorious general the 
honor of a triumph. This was a grand parade and procession 
The triumph in the Rome - First came the magistrates 

and senators, wagons laden with booty, and 
captives in chains. Then followed the conqueror himself, 
clad in a purple toga, holding a laurel branch as a symbol 
of victory, and riding in a four-horse chariot. Behind him 
marched the soldiers, who sang a triumphal hymn. The 
procession passed along the Sacred Way through the Forum 
and mounted the Capitoline Hill to the temple of Jupiter. 
There the general laid his laurel branch upon the knees of 
the statue of Jupiter, as a thank offering for victory. Mean¬ 
while, the captives who had appeared in the procession were 
strangled in the underground prison of the Capitol. It was 
a day of mingled joy and tragedy. 


Roman Warfare 


237 


For Explanation 


Cisalpine Gaul 
Campania 
Etruscans 
Latium 
Latins 
Alba Longa 
Latin League 
Palatine Hill 
Capitoline Hill 
Forum 


Lares and Penates 

Vestal Virgins 

Campus Martius 

auspices 

consul 

dictator 

patrician 

plebeian 

tribune 

Twelve Tables 


censor 

Gauls 

Allia 

Samnites 

Tarentum 

Pyrrhus 

Latin colonies 

Appian Way 

legion 

civic crown 


For Discussion 


1. “ Italy and Greece may be described as standing back to back to each 
other.” Explain this statement. 

2. Why have Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica been called the “suburbs of 
Italy”? Which island does not belong to the present kingdom of 
Italy? 

3. Show that the early history of Italy centered about the Tyrrhenian 
Sea. 

4. Explain the significance of the Roman’s threefold name. 

5. Compare the early Roman with the early Greek religion as to like¬ 
nesses and differences. 

6. Why have the consuls been called “joint kings for one year”? 

7. In the Roman and Spartan constitutions contrast: (a) consuls and 
kings; ( b ) censors and ephors; and (c) the two senates. 

8. Compare, with respect to composition and powers, the popular as¬ 
semblies at Rome and the Athenian popular assembly. 

9. What conditions made it easier for the Romans to conquer Magna 
Grsecia than to subdue the Samnites? 

10. What is a “Pyrrhic victory”? 

11. Compare the nature of Roman rule over Italy with that of Athens over 
the Delian League. 

12. Show that the Italian allies of Rome enjoyed local self-government, or 
“home rule.” 

13. Why have the Latin colonies been described as “offshoots of Rome 
herself”? 

14. “All roads lead to Rome.” Explain. 

15. Contrast the legion and the phalanx as to arrangement, armament, 
and methods of fighting. 

16. “The Romans were a great army rather than a great nation.” Com¬ 
ment on this statement. 


238 


The Rise of Rome 


For Further Study 

1. Examine the map (page 212) for the distribution of the early inhabit¬ 
ants of Italy. Locate ten Greek colonies. 

2. Make a list of the Roman magistrates mentioned in this chapter and 
of the powers which they exercised. 

3. Compare the government of republican Rome with that of some 
modern American city with which you are familiar. 

4. Make a detailed comparison between the Roman Senate and the Senate 
of the United States as to size, term of office of members, conditions 
of membership, procedure, functions, and importance. 

5. Read the poem “Horatius” in Macaulay’s Lays of Ancient Rome. 
Does this poem profess to be historical in character? 

6. Write an imaginary account of a Roman soldier’s experience in the war 
with Pyrrhus. 

7. Trace the chief Roman roads in Italy, noting some of the cities along 
them and the terminal points of each road (map, page 228). 

8. Construct a miniature Roman camp (illustration, page 235). 

9. Give the derivation and present meaning of the English words forum, 
capitol, patrician, plebeian, censor, dictator, tribune, auspices, and veto. 


Supplementary 

Webster, Readings in Early European History, chapter xiv, “Legends of 
Early Rome.” 

Webster and Webb, Historical Outline Maps and Exercises: Early European 
History, No. VIII, Expansion of Rome over Italy. 


CHAPTER X 


THE GREAT AGE OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC 

The great city on the Tiber owed more to the plough than to the sword, 
more to roads than to raids, more to law than to the legionary. 

— E. B. Osborn 

Behind the ordered structure of her law and government, and the 
majestic fabric of her civilization, lay a vital force of even deeper import: 
the strong grave Roman character, which has permanently heightened the 
ideal of human life. 

— J. W. Mackail 

76. Rome and Carthage 

The conquest of Italy made Rome one of the five leading 
states of the Mediterranean world. In the East there were 
the kingdoms of Macedonia, Syria, and Egypt, The Punic 
which had inherited the dominions of Alexander wars 
the Great (§ 53). In the West there were Carthage and 
Rome, once in friendly alliance, but now to become the bitter¬ 
est foes. Rome had scarcely reached the headship of united 
Italy before she was involved in a life-and-death struggle 
with this rival power. The three wars between them are 
known as the Punic (that is, Phoenician) wars; they are the 
most famous contests that ancient history records; and they 
ended in the destruction of Carthage. 

More than a century before the traditional date at which 
Rome rose upon her seven hills, Phoenician colonists laid the 
foundations of a second Tyre. An old legend told Founding of 
how Queen Dido, fleeing from Tyre with her fol- Carthage 
lowers, sought another home on the African shore. She 
asked of the natives only as much land as a bull’s hide could 
cover. When the request was readily granted, Dido cun- 

239 


240 The Great Age of the Roman Republic 

ningly cut the skin into thin strips, and with them encircled 
a spot on which she built a citadel called Byrsa (hide). 
Carthage grew up about this citadel. The city bordered on 
rich farming land and had the largest harbor of North 
Africa. 

The Carthaginians had formed an imposing commercial 
empire by the middle of the third century b.c. Their African 

dominions included the 
strip of coast from the 
Greek city of 
Cyrene west¬ 
ward to the 
Strait of Gibraltar. Their 
settlements lined the 
shores of Sicily, Sardinia, 
Corsica, and southern 
Spain. They possessed 
ports in Malta and the 
Balearic Islands. The 
western half of the Medi¬ 
terranean had become al¬ 
most a Carthaginian lake. 

The Carthaginians kept 
their own (Semitic) lan¬ 
guage, customs, and be¬ 
liefs and did not mingle with the native African peoples. 
The government was in form republican, with two elective 
Carthaginian magistrates somewhat resembling Roman con- 
cuiture suls. The real power lay, however, with a 

group of merchant nobles, who cared very little for the 
welfare of the poor freemen and slaves over whom they 
ruled. The wealth of Carthage enabled her to raise armies 
of mercenary soldiers and to build warships which in size, 
number, and equipment surpassed those of any other Medi¬ 
terranean state. Mistress of a wide realm, strong both by 
land and sea, Carthage was now to prove herself Rome’s 
most dangerous foe. 



The Building of Carthage 

Vatican Library, Rome 
A picture in an ancient manuscript of Vir¬ 
gil’s poems. It shows a smithy with workers 
and masons squaring blocks. Notice the large 
wheel for lifting the blocks. 




241 


Rome and Carthage 

The First Punic War was a contest for Sicily. The Car¬ 
thaginians wished to extend their rule over all that island, 
which from its situation seems to belong almost as First Punic 
much to Africa as to Italy. The Romans, now su- war, 264 241 
preme in the Italian peninsula, also cast envious B ’ c ' 
eyes on Sicily. They believed, too, that the conquest of Sicily 
by the Carthaginians would soon be followed by the invasion 



of southern Italy. The war between the two peoples lasted 
nearly twenty-four years. It was fought mainly on the sea. 
The Carthaginians at the start had things all their own way, 
but with characteristic energy the Romans built fleet after 
fleet and at length won a complete victory over the enemy. 
The treaty of peace deprived Carthage of Sicily. That 
island now became Roman territory. 

The peace amounted to no more than an armed truce. The 
decisive conflict, which should determine whether Rome or 
Carthage was to rule the western Mediterranean, was yet to 




















242 The Great Age of the Roman Republic 

come. Before it came, Rome strengthened her military posi¬ 
tion by seizing Sardinia and Corsica, in spite of Carthaginian 
The interval protests against this unwarranted action, and by 
of preparation conquering the Gauls in the Po Valley. The 
Roman power now extended over northern Italy to the foot 
of the Alps. Carthage, meanwhile, created a new empire 
in Spain, as far north as the Ebro River. Spain at this time 
was a rich, though undeveloped, country. The produce of 
its silver mines filled the Carthaginian treasury, and its 
hardy tribes made excellent soldiers for the Carthaginian 
army. The Punic city thus had both means and men for 
another struggle with Rome. 

77. Hannibal and the Great Punic War 

The First Punic War had been a contest between two 
nations for commercial supremacy. The Second Punic War 
Rome and was a titanic struggle for national existence — a 
Hannibal struggle in which a proud and mighty nation was 
pitted against one great man. It is therefore sometimes 
known as the “Hannibalic” war, because it centered about 
the personality of Hannibal the Carthaginian. As a com¬ 
mander, he ranks with Alexander the Great. The Mace¬ 
donian king conquered for the glory of conquest; Hannibal, 
burning with patriotism, sought to destroy the power that 
had humbled his native land. 

Hannibal was not quite twenty-seven years old when the 
war opened. While yet a mere child, so the story went, his 
Personality father, Hamilcar, had led him to the altar of Baal- 
of Hannibal Moloch and bade him swear by that frightful god 
of Carthage eternal enmity to Rome. He followed his father 
to Spain and during the wars there learned all the duties of 
a soldier. “Bold to the extreme in incurring peril, he was 
perfectly cool in its presence. Toil could neither exhaust 
his body nor subdue his mind. Heat and cold he bore with 
equal endurance. The amount which he ate or drank was 
determined by the needs of nature, and not by the cravings 


Hannibal and the Great Punic War 243 

of the palate. Such time as business left him, he gave to 
repose. Sleep he did not woo on a soft couch or in a quiet 
spot, but often you would see him wrapped in his military 
cloak, lying on the ground amid the sentries and pickets. 
He was the first to enter battle and the last to leave the 
field.” Such a man was fitted to become the idol of his 
soldiers. 

The Romans planned to conduct the war in Spain and 
Africa, at a distance from their own shores. Hannibal’s bold 
movements took them by surprise. The young Hannibal , s 
Carthaginian general had determined to fight in invasion of 
Italy. Since Roman fleets now controlled the Italy 
western Mediterranean, it was necessary for him to lead his 
army, with its supplies, equipment, horses, and war ele¬ 
phants, from Spain through the defiles of the Pyrenees, 
across the wide, deep Rhone, through the snow-covered 
passes of the Alps, and down their steeper southern slopes 
into the valley of the Po. 1 When, after a five months’ march 
he stood on the soil of Italy, Hannibal had scarcely twenty- 
five thousand troops with which to meet the armies of Rome 
— a power that, given time, could muster to her defense 
more than half a million disciplined soldiers. 

The Romans were surprised by the boldness and rapidity 
of Hannibal’s movements. They had expected to conduct 
the war far away in foreign lands; they now knew First victories 
that they must fight for their own homes and of Hannibal 
firesides. The first battles were complete victories for the 
Carthaginians and opened the road to Rome. Hannibal’s 
plans, however, did not include a siege of the capital. He 
would not shatter his army in an assault on the strong walls 
of a fortified town. Hannibal’s real object was to bring the 
Italians over to his side, to ruin Rome through the revolts 
of her allies. He now learned, apparently for the first time, 
that Italy was studded with Latin colonies (§ 74), each a 
miniature Rome, each prepared to resist to the bitter end. 
Not a single city opened its gates to the invader. 

1 See the map, page 241. 


244 The Great Age of the Roman Republic 

The Senate faced the crisis with characteristic energy. 
New forces were raised and intrusted to a dictator (§71), 
. Quintus Fabius Maximus. He refused to meet 
a dictatorship pj ann ^ a i j n a pitched battle, but followed dog¬ 
gedly his enemy’s footsteps, meanwhile drilling his soldiers 
to become a match for the Carthaginian veterans. This 
strategy was little to the taste of the Roman populace, who 
nicknamed Fabius Cunctator, “the Laggard.’’ However, it 
gave Rome a brief breathing space, until her preparations to 
crush the invader should be completed. 

After the term of Fabius as dictator had expired, new 
consuls were chosen. They commanded the largest army 
Battle of Rome had ever put in the field. The opposing 

Cannae, 216 forces met at Cannae. The Carthaginians num¬ 

bered less than fifty thousand men; the Romans 
had more than eighty thousand troops. Hannibal’s sole su¬ 
periority lay in his cavalry, which was posted on the wings 
with the infantry occupying the space between. His center 
was weak and gave way before the Romans, who fought 
this time massed in solid columns. The arrangement was 
a poor one, for it destroyed the mobility of the legions. 
The Roman soldiers, having pierced the enemy’s lines, now 
found themselves exposed on both flanks to the African in¬ 
fantry and taken in the rear by Hannibal’s splendid cavalry. 
The lost battle ended in a hideous butchery. One of the 
consuls died fighting bravely to the last; the other escaped 
from the field and with the wreck of his army fled to Rome. 
A Punic commander who survived such a disaster would 
have perished on the cross; the Roman commander received 
the thanks of the Senate “ for not despairing of the republic.” 

The battle of Cannae marks the summit of Hannibal’s 
career. He maintained himself in Italy for thirteen years 
After Cannge thereafter, but the Romans, taught by bitter ex¬ 
perience, refused another engagement with their 
foe. Hannibal’s army was too small and too poorly equipped 
with siege engines for a successful attack on Rome. His 
brother, Hasdrubal, led strong reinforcements from Spain to 














































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30 



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(Regium) 

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KEY:- 

Roman Possessions at the Beginning of the First Punic War, (264 B. C.) 




1’. . ■■■■ 1 Acquisitions to the End of the Second Punic War, (201 B. C.) 
1 1 Additional Possessions in 133 B. C. 

I | Acquisitions to the Death of Julius Cassar, (44 B. C.) 

1....... } Additional Possessions in 31 B. C. 


’*T 


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GREAT 


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Rome Mistress of the Mediterranean 


245 


Italy, but these were caught and destroyed before they could 
effect a junction with Hannibal’s troops. Meanwhile the 
brilliant Roman commander, Publius Scipio, drove the Car¬ 
thaginians from Spain and invaded Africa. Hannibal was 
summoned from Italy to face this new adversary. He came, 
and on the field of Zama (202 b.c.) met his first and only 
defeat. Scipio, the victor, received the 
proud surname, Africanus. 

Exhausted Carthage could now do no 
more than sue for peace on any terms 
that Rome was willing to grant. p eaC e in 201 
In the hour of defeat she still B - c - 
trusted her great soldier, and it was Han¬ 
nibal who conducted the final negotiations. 

The conditions of peace were severe enough. 

The Carthaginians gave up Spain and all 
their ships except ten triremes. They 
were saddled with a huge indemnity and 
bound to engage in no war without the 
consent of Rome. Carthage thus became 
a vassal state. 

It is difficult, in following the course 
and outcome of the Second Punic War, 
to withhold sympathy for the victorious 
heroic figure of Hannibal. Rome 
Rome, however, was fighting for European civilization, just 
as surely as was Greece in the Persian wars (§41). Had 
Hannibal and Carthage triumphed, Oriental ideas and cus¬ 
toms might have spread throughout the western Mediter¬ 
ranean. The triumph of Rome, like that of Greece, saved 
Europe for better things. 



“Publius Scipio 
Africanus” 

Naples Museum 
A bronze bust, pos¬ 
sibly that of the great 
Roman after whom it 
is named, and a fine ex¬ 
ample of portraiture. 


78. Rome Mistress of the Mediterranean 

Carthage had been humbled, but not destroyed. She 
still enjoyed the advantages of her magnificent situation 
and continued to be a competitor for the trade of the western 


246 The Great Age of the Roman Republic 

Mediterranean. Rome watched anxiously the revival of 
the Punic city and at length determined to blot it out of 
Third Punic existence. A Roman army landed in Africa, 
War, 149- and the Carthaginians were ordered to remove 
146 b.c. ten miles from the sea. It was a sentence of 
death to a people who lived almost entirely by maritime 
trade. In despair they took up arms again and for three 
years resisted the Romans. The city was finally captured, 
burned, and its site dedicated to the infernal gods. Such was 
the end of the most formidable rival Rome ever met in her 



A Testudo 

A relief from the Column of Trajan, Rome. The name testudo, a tortoise (shell), was 
applied to the covering made by a body of soldiers who placed their shields over their 
heads. The shields fitted so closely together that men could walk on them and even 
horses and chariots could be driven over them. 

career of conquest. The territory of Carthage was now 
annexed to Rome and organized as a provinc’e, named Africa. 

The two European countries, Sicily and Spain, which Rome 
had taken from Carthage, presented very different problems 
Sicily the conqueror. Sicily had been long accus¬ 

tomed to foreign masters. Its civilized and 
peace-loving inhabitants were as ready to accept Roman rule 
as, in the past, they had been to accept the sway of Greeks 
and Carthaginians. It formed the first Roman province. 






Rome Mistress of the Mediterranean 


247 


Spain, on the contrary, gave the Romans some hard fight¬ 
ing. The wild Spanish tribes loved their liberty and long 
kept up a desperate struggle for independence. 

Eventually, the entire peninsula, except the in- Spam 
accessible mountain district in the northwest, became Roman 
territory. Many colonists settled in Spain; traders and 
speculators flocked to the seaports; even the legionaries, 
quartered there for long periods, married Spanish wives and, 
when retired from active service, made their homes in the 
peninsula. Rome thus continued in Spain the process of 
Romanization which she had begun in Italy (§74). She 
was to repeat this process in Gaul and Britain. Her way was 
prepared by the sword, but after the sword came civilization. 

While Rome was subduing the West, she was also extend¬ 
ing her influence over the peoples of the East. Roman 
interference in the affairs of Macedonia found Rome and 
an excuse in the attempt of that country, during Macedonia 
the Second Punic War, to give aid to Hannibal. It was a fate¬ 
ful moment when, for the second time, the legion faced the 
phalanx. The easy victory over Macedonia showed that this 
Hellenistic kingdom was no match for the Italian republic. 
Macedonia was finally made into a dependent ally of Rome. 
Thus disappeared a great power, which Philip had founded 
and which Alexander had led to the conquest of the world. 

Having overcome Macedonia, Rome proclaimed Greece a 
free state. This “freedom’’ really meant subjection, as was 
amply proved when some of the Greek cities rose Rome and 
in revolt against Roman domination. The heavy Greece 
hand of Roman vengeance especially descended on Corinth, 
then one of the most beautiful cities of the world. In 146 B.c., 
the same year in which the destruction of Carthage occurred, 
Corinth was sacked and burned to the ground. The fall of 
Corinth may be said to mark the final extinction of Greek 
liberty. Though the cities and states of Greece were allowed 
to rule themselves, they paid tribute and thus acknowledged 
the supremacy of Rome. A century later, Greece became in 
name, as well as in fact, a province of the Roman Empire. 


248 The Great Age of the Roman Republic 

Rome, in the meantime, was drawn into a conflict with the 
kingdom of Syria. That Asiatic power proved to be no more 
Rome and capable than Macedonia of checking the Roman 
Syria advance. The Syrian king had to give up the 

greater part of his possessions in Asia Minor. The western 
part of the peninsula, together with the Greek cities on the 
coast, was formed in 133 B.c. into the province of Asia. 

Roman supremacy over the Mediterranean world was now 
all but complete. In 264 b.c. Rome had been only one of the 
Political situ- fi ve g rea t Mediterranean states (§ 76). In 133 B.c. 
ation in 133 no other power existed to match its strength with 
that of Rome. To her had fallen in the West the 
heritage of Carthage, in the East the heritage of Alexander. 
Rome had built up this mighty empire at a terrible cost in 
blood and treasure. Let us see what use she was to make of it. 


Provinces 


79. Effects of Foreign Conquest on Roman 
Society 

Rome’s dealings with her new dependencies overseas did 
not follow the methods that proved so successful in Italy. 

The Italian peoples had received liberal treat¬ 
ment. Rome regarded them as allies and in 
many instances conferred upon them Roman citizenship. 
It did not seem possible to extend this wise policy to regions 
beyond the borders of Italy. Rome adopted, instead, much 
the same system of imperial rule that had been followed by 
Persia and by Athens. The conquered territories were made 
into provinces. Their inhabitants were disarmed, were 
obliged to pay tribute, and in all their affairs had to accept 
the control of Roman officials. 

The proper management of conquered territories is always 
a difficult problem for the best-intentioned state. It cannot 
Xhe be truly said that even Rome’s intentions were 

provincial praiseworthy. There was little desire to rule 
for the good of the subject peoples. A Roman 
governor exercised almost absolute sway over his province. 


Effects of Foreign Conquest on Roman Society 249 

He usually looked upon it as a source of personal gain and 
did everything possible during his year of office to enrich 
himself at the expense of the inhabitants. They could com¬ 
plain of the governor’s conduct to the Senate, which had 
appointed him, but their injuries stood little chance of being 
redressed by senatorial courts quite ignorant of provincial 
affairs and notoriously open to bribery. The provincials 
also suffered terribly from the extortions of the tax collectors 
(publicans), who wrung all they could from the people, paid 
the Roman government its stipulated amount, and then kept 
the remainder for themselves. They were so grasping that 
their name became a byword for all that was greedy. One 
finds in the New Testament “publicans” and “sinners” 
mentioned side by side. 

The early Romans had been celebrated for their love of 
country, their simple lives, and their conservative, old- 
fashioned ways (§ 69). They worked hard on The early 
their little farms, fought bravely in the legions, Roman 
and kept up with careful piety all the ceremonies character 
of their religion. The ideal Roman was a Cincinnatus, who, 
when Rome was in grave peril, had left his farm to take 
the dictatorship, or a Curius Dentatus, the conqueror of 
the Samnites and of Pyrrhus. Curius had celebrated three 
triumphs, but he still lived modestly in a cottage on a four- 
acre plot, which he tilled with his own hands. To him came 
envoys from the Samnites offering rich bribes. “Go tell 
the Samnites,” he answered, “that Curius counts it glory, 
not to possess wealth, but to rule those who do.” Such 
men as these, despite their many faults, had made the little 
city-state by the Tiber great among the nations. 

But now the Romans had become an imperial people and 
enjoyed all the material rewards of conquest. Their foreign 
wars were immensely profitable. The soldiers Roman 
received large gifts from their commander, shar- imperialism 
ing the booty taken from the enemy. The State itself made 
money from the sale of enslaved prisoners and their property. 
When once peace had been declared, Roman governors and 


250 The Great Age of the Roman Republic 

tax collectors followed in the wake of the armies and squeezed 
the provincials at every turn. The Romans, indeed, seem 
to have conquered less for glory than for profit. 

The wealth that now poured into Rome from every side 
promoted the growth of luxurious tastes. Newly rich Ro- 
Growth of mans, like the Macedonians and Greeks after 
luxury Alexander’s conquests (§ 54), developed a relish 

for all sorts of reckless display. They built fine houses 
adorned with statues, costly paintings, and furnishings. 
They surrounded themselves with troops of slaves. Instead 
of plain linen clothes, they wore garments of silk and gold. 
At their banquets they spread embroidered carpets, purple 
coverings, and dishes of gilt plate. Pomp and splendor 
replaced the rude simplicity of earlier times. 

The rich were becoming richer, but it seems that the poor 
were also becoming poorer. After Rome became mistress 
Disappear- °f the Mediterranean, her markets were flooded 
ance of the with the cheap wheat raised in those granaries 
peasantry 0 f the ancient world, Sicily, North Africa, and 
Egypt. The price of wheat fell so low that Roman peasants 
could not raise enough to support their families and pay their 
taxes. They had to sell out, often at a ruinous sacrifice, 
to capitalists, who turned many small farms into extensive 
sheep pastures, cattle ranches, vineyards, and olive orchards. 
These great estates were worked by gangs of slaves from 
Carthage, Spain, Macedonia, Greece, and Asia Minor. The 
free peasantry, which had always been the strength of the 
Roman State, largely disappeared. 

The Roman peasants who now found it impossible to 
make a living on their little farms did not care to emigrate 
The exodus and seek their fortunes abroad. They thronged, 
to the cities instead, to the cities of Italy, to Rome especially, 
where they labored for a small wage, fared plainly on wheat 
bread, and dwelt in huge lodging houses, three or four stories 
high. 

We know little about these poor people of Rome. They 
must have lived from hand to mouth. Since they chiefly 


Effects of Foreign Conquest on Roman Society 251 

composed the popular assemblies and thus controlled elec¬ 
tions, they were courted by candidates for office and kept 
from grumbling by being fed and amused. ‘ ‘ The 

• r +-u J i >> j i j , The city mob 

majority of these people, declared an ancient 
writer, “have slipped within our walls, leaving the scythe 
and the plow; they prefer clapping their hands at the circus 
to working in their fields and vine¬ 
yards.” Such property less citizens, 
too lazy for steady work, too intelli¬ 
gent to starve, formed, with the riff¬ 
raff of a great city, the elements of 
a dangerous mob. The mob plays, 
henceforth, an ever larger part in the 
history of the times. 

The conquests which brought Rome 
in touch, first with Magna Grsecia 
and Sicily, then with Greekin . 

Greece itself and the Hel- fluence at 
lenistic East, prepared Rome 
the way for the entrance of Greek 
culture. Roman soldiers and traders 
carried back to Italy an acquaintance 
with Greek customs and ideas. Thou¬ 
sands of cultivated Greeks, some as 
slaves and others as freemen, settled 
in Rome as actors, physicians, artists, 
and writers. There they introduced 
the language, religion, literature, and 
art of their native land. Roman no¬ 
bles of the better type began to take an interest in other 
things than farming, commerce, or war. They imitated 
Greek fashions in dress and manners, collected Greek books, 
and filled their homes with the productions of Greek art. 
Every aspect of Roman society felt the quickening influence 
of the older, richer culture of the Greek world. It was a 
Roman poet who wrote, — “Captive Greece captured her 
conqueror rude.” 



Youth Reading a Papy¬ 
rus Roll 


Relief on a sarcophagus 
The papyrus roll was some¬ 
times very long. The entire 
Iliad or Odyssey might be con¬ 
tained in a single manuscript 
one hundred and fifty feet in 
length. In the third century 
a.d. the unwieldy roll began to 
give way to the tablet, com¬ 
posed of leaves held together by 
a ring. About this time, also, 
the use of vellum, or parchment 
made of sheepskin, became 
common. 









252 The Great Age of the Roman Republic 

80. The Gracchi, Marius, and Sulla 

It was not long before efforts began at Rome to remedy 
some of the evils which were now seen to be undermining 

. Roman society. The first persons to undertake 
the work of reform were the two brothers, Tibe¬ 
rius and Gaius Gracchus, each in turn. The Gracchi belonged 
to the highest nobility of Rome. Their father had filled a 
consulship and a censorship and had celebrated triumphs. 
Cornelia, their mother, was a daughter of Scipio Africanus, 
the conqueror of Hannibal. A fine type of the Roman 
matron, she called her boys her “jewels/’ more precious than 
gold, and brought them up to love their country better than 
their own lives. 

Tiberius, the elder brother, was only thirty years old 
when in 133 B.c. he became a tribune (§ 71) of the people 
Tiberius and began his brief career in politics. Tiberius 
Gracchus now brought forward a measure intended to re¬ 
vive the drooping agriculture of Italy. He proposed that 
some of the public lands of Rome, then largely occupied by 
wealthy men, who alone had the capital to work them with 
cattle and slaves, should be reclaimed by the State, divided 
into small tracts, and given to landless citizens. This pro¬ 
posal aroused a hornet’s nest about the reformer’s ears. 
Rich people had occupied the public lands so long that they 
had come to look upon them as really their own. The great 
landowners in the Senate got another tribune, devoted to 
their interests, to place his veto on the measure. The im¬ 
patient Tiberius now took a false step. Though a magistrate 
could not legally be removed from office, Tiberius had the 
offending tribune deposed and thus secured the desired legis¬ 
lation. This action further angered the aristocrats, who 
threatened to impeach him as soon as his term expired. To 
avoid impeachment Tiberius sought reelection to the tribu¬ 
nate for the following year. This, again, was contrary to the 
constitution, which did not permit any one to hold office 
for two successive terms. On the day appointed for the 


The Gracchi, Marius, and Sulla 


253 


election, while voting was in progress, a crowd of senators 
burst into the Forum and killed Tiberius, besides many of 
his followers. Both sides had now begun to disregard the 
law. Force and bloodshed, henceforth, were to decide polit¬ 
ical disputes. 

Nine years after the death of Tiberius Gracchus, his brother 
Gaius also became a tribune. Gaius soon secured the passage 
of a law permitting the sale of grain from public Gaius 
storehouses to Roman citizens at about half the Gracchus 
market price. The law made Gaius popular with the poorer 
classes, but it was the reverse of wise. Charity of this sort 
increased, rather than lessened, the number of paupers. 
Gaius showed much more statesmanship in his other meas¬ 
ures. He encouraged the emigration of landless men from 
Italy to the provinces and introduced reforms in provincial 
administration. He even proposed to bestow the right of 
voting in the assemblies at Rome upon the inhabitants of 
the Latin colonies (§ 74). This effort to extend Roman 
citizenship cost Gaius his popularity. It aroused the jeal¬ 
ousy of the city mob, which believed that the enrollment 
of new citizens would mean the loss of its privileges. There 
would not be so many free shows and so much cheap grain. 
The people therefore rejected the measure. They even 
failed to reelect Gaius to the tribunate, though a law had 
been recently passed permitting a man to hold the position 
of tribune year after year. The Senate took advantage of 
the situation to declare Gaius a public enemy. Another 
bloody tumult broke out, in which several thousand of his 
followers perished. He himself committed suicide. 

The pathetic career of the Gracchi has much significance 
in Roman history. They were the unconscious sponsors of a 
revolutionary movement which did not end until The Gracchi 
the republic had come under the rule of one man. begin the 
They failed because they put their trust in the revolutlon 
support of the Roman mob. Future agitators were to appear 
with the legionaries at their heels. 

Civil strife at Rome had thus far left the aristocrats at the 


Marius 


254 The Great Age of the Roman Republic 

head of affairs. They still controlled the Senate, and the 
Senate still governed Rome. But that body had degener- 
The senate- a ted. The senators were no longer such able and 
rial aristoc- patriotic men as those who had piloted the State 
while Rome was gaining world dominion (§ 72). 
They now thought less of the republic than of their own 
interests. Hence, as we have just seen, they blocked every 
effort of the Gracchi to improve the condition of the poorer 
citizens in Italy or of the provincials outside of Italy. Their 
growing incompetence and corruption, both at home and 
abroad, made the people more anxious than ever for a leader 
against the senatorial aristocracy. 

The popular leader who appeared before long was not 
another tribune but a general named Marius. He gained 
his greatest distinction in a war with some of the 
Germanic peoples. These barbarians, whom we 
now hear of for the first time, had begun their migrations 
southward toward the Mediterranean basin. Rome was 
henceforth to face them in every century of her national 
existence. The decisive victories which Marius gained over 
them in southern Gaul and northern Italy removed a grave 
danger threatening Rome. The time had not come for classi¬ 
cal civilization to be submerged under a wave of barbarism. 

Meanwhile, the senatorial aristocracy also found a leader 
in a noble named Sulla. He, too, rose to eminence as a 
successful general, this time in a war between 
Rome and the Italian allies. It resulted from 
the refusal of the Senate and popular assemblies to extend 
Roman citizenship throughout Italy. This so-called Social 
War ended only when Rome promised citizenship to all 
Italians who returned to their allegiance. The inhabitants 
of nearly all the Italian towns soon received all the rights 
possessed by citizens of Rome (§ 74), though they could 
not vote or stand for office unless they visited in person the 
capital city. In practice, therefore, the populace of Rome 
still had the controlling voice in ordinary legislation. 

Marius and Sulla were rivals not only in war but also in 


Sulla 


255 


Pompey, Cicero, and Caesar 

politics. The one was the champion of the democrats, the 
other, of the aristocrats. The rivalry between them finally 
led to civil war, with its attendant bloodshed. Rivalry of 
Sulla triumphed, thus becoming supreme in the Marius and 
State. Rome now came under the rule of one Sulla 
man, for the first time since the expulsion of the kings 
(§68). Sulla used his position of “Perpetual Dictator” 
only to pass a series of laws intended to restore the suprem¬ 
acy of the Senate. He then retired to private life and died 
in 78 B.c. 


81. Pompey, Cicero, and Cesar 

After Sulla’s death his friend Pompey was the leading 
figure in Roman politics. Pompey won great renown as a 
commander. He crushed an uprising of 
the Spaniards, put down a formidable 
rebellion in Italy of slaves, Pompey 
outlaws, and ruined peasants, 
ridded the Mediterranean of pirates, and 
won sweeping conquests in the Near East, 
where he added Syria and Palestine to 
the Roman dominions. 

We have seen how steadily since the 
days of the Gracchi the Roman State 
had been moving toward the Marcus Tui- 
rule of one man. Marius, lius Cicero 
Sulla, and Pompey each represent a step 
in the direction of monarchy. Yet there 
were still able and patriotic leaders at 
Rome who clung to the old order of 
things and did their best to uphold the 
fast-perishing republic. No republican statesman was more 
devoted to the constitution than Cicero. He came to Rome 
a youth without wealth or family influence, but made his 
way into Roman society by his social and conversational 
powers and by his capacity for friendship. His mind had 



An original marble bust 
at Copenhagen; proba¬ 
bly an authentic portrait. 





256 The Great Age of the Roman Republic 

been carefully trained under the influence of Greek culture; 
he had traveled and studied in Greece; and throughout life 
he loved to steal away from the tumult of the Forum and 
the law courts and enjoy the companionship of his books. 
Though the proud nobles were inclined to look down on him, 
Cicero’s splendid eloquence soon gave him prominence at 

Rome. He has been accused 
of being a “trimmer” in pol¬ 
itics, because he could not 
take sides either with the ex¬ 
treme democrats or with the 
selfish and exclusive nobles. 
Even some of his contempo¬ 
raries used to say that Cicero 
sat “upon two stools.” The 
truth seems to be that Cicero 
was sincerely attached to the 
republican government and 
desired to restore the good 
old days when the Senate rep¬ 
resented the worth as well 
as the wealth of the commu¬ 
nity. He believed that Rome 
might yet go back to the ideal of a free commonwealth and 
that Roman citizens would never accept the slave’s ideal of a 
good but absolute master. Cicero’s aims, though high, were 
all too impracticable in that corrupt and evil age. He lived 
to witness the downfall of the republic and to seal with his 
blood his devotion to the State. We may agree in our judg¬ 
ment of Cicero with the words which one of his bitter ene¬ 
mies pronounced over him— “A great orator, and a man 
who loved his country well.” 

Cicero rose to prominence through his prosecution of 
Impeachment Verres, a thieving governor of Sicily. Verres had 
of verres, powerful friends among the nobles at Rome 
and counted on his influence and wealth to es¬ 
cape punishment. He openly boasted that he had plunder 



Marcus Tullius Cicero 

Vatican Museum, Rome 



CICERO DENOUNCING CATILINE BEFORE THE ROMAN SENATE 

After the painting by Cesare Maccari in the Palace of the Senate, Rome 














































































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257 


Pompey, Cicero, and Caesar 

enough to live in luxury, even though he had to surrender 
two-thirds of it as fees to his lawyers and bribes to the jury. 
Verres had not reckoned, however, with the brilliant young 
advocate who took up the cause of the oppressed provincials. 
Cicero hurried to Sicily and there collected such an over¬ 
whelming mass of evidence that the bare statement of the 
facts was enough to condemn the criminal. Verres went 
into exile. Cicero became the head of the Roman bar. 
Seven years later he was elected consul. 

The year of Cicero’s consulship was marked by an event 
which throws a lurid light on the conditions of the time. 
Lucius Catiline, a young noble of ability, but conspiracy of 
bankrupt in character and purse, organized a Catiline, 
conspiracy to seize Rome, murder the magis- 63 B,c ' 
trates, and plunder the rich. He gathered about himself 
outlaws, slaves, landless peasants, and bankrupts — all the 
discontented and needy classes throughout Italy. Catiline 
had no purpose of reforming society; he and his associates 
were desperate anarchists who sought to restore their own 
broken fortunes by overturning the government. The spread 
of the insurrection was checked by Cicero, who exposed 
Catiline’s plans in a series of speeches to the astounded 
Senate. Catiline then fled to his camp in Etruria and 
shortly afterward perished in battle, together with three 
thousand of his followers. Cicero now gained fresh popu¬ 
larity and honor. “If you have saved the republic abroad,” 
he said to Pompey, on the latter’s return from the Near East, 
“I have saved it at home.” 

Rome at this time held another prominent leader in poli¬ 
tics, namely, Gaius Julius Caesar. He belonged to a noble 
family, but his father had favored the demo- 
cratic cause and his aunt had married Marius. 

Caesar, as a young man, threw himself whole-heartedly into 
the exciting game of politics as played in the capital city. 
He won the ear of the multitude by his fiery harangues, 
his bribes of money, and his gifts of food and public shows. 
After spending all his private fortune in this way, he was 


First 

Triumvirate, 
60 B.C. 


258 The Great Age of the Roman Republic 

“financed’’ by the millionaire Crassus, who lent him the 
large sums required for a successful career as a politician. 

Caesar and Crassus, the two leaders of the democratic 
party at Rome, now joined with Pompey in what the 
Romans called a triumvirate, but what we should 
call a “ring.” Pompey contributed his soldiers, 
Crassus his wealth, and Caesar his influence over 
the city mob. Supported by both the army and the people, 
these three men were really masters of Rome. 

Caesar was ambitious. The careers of Marius, Sulla, and 
Pompey taught him that the road to power at Rome lay 
Caesar through a military command, which would 

governor of furnish an army devoted to his personal for¬ 

tunes. Accordingly, after serving a year as con¬ 
sul, he obtained an appointment as governor of Gaul on 
both sides of the Alps (Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul). 
The next eight years were devoted to his remarkable cam¬ 
paigns against the barbarous inhabitants of western Europe. 

The Gauls (§ 73), as the Romans called them, were a tall, 
blue-eyed, fair-haired people, speaking an Indo-European 

The Gauls language called Celtic, and occupying at this time 

( 238 ) the area now included in France, the Nether¬ 

lands, Switzerland, part of Germany, and the British Isles. 
The Gauls did not keep written records, so that our knowl¬ 
edge of them comes from statements by Roman writers and 
from modern excavations on the sites of their settlements 
and burial places. As compared with the Greeks and Romans 
of this period, they were still barbarians, without cities and 
without any political life beyond loosely organized tribes. 

The story of Caesar’s campaigns in Gaul has been told by 
Caesar himself in the famous Commentaries , still a Latin 
_ , text in the schools. This book describes a series 

paigns in of military successes which have given the author 

a place among the world’s great generals. Caesar 
overcame the Gallic tribes in one battle after an¬ 
other, twice bridged the Rhine and invaded Germany, made 
two military expeditions to Britain, and brought within 


Gaul, 58-50 
B.C. 


The Work of Caesar 259 

the Roman dominions all the territory bounded by the Pyr¬ 
enees, the Alps, the Rhine, and the Atlantic Ocean. 

Caesar’s conquest of Gaul widened the map of the civilized 
world from the Mediterranean basin to the shores of the 
Atlantic. Gaul soon received and speedily Romaniza- 
adopted the Latin language, Roman law, and tion of Gaul 
the customs and religion of Rome. “Let the Alps sink,” 
exclaimed Cicero, “the gods raised them to shelter Italy 
from the barbarians, but now they are no longer needed.” 

The death of Crassus, during Caesar’s absence in Gaul, dis¬ 
solved the triumvirate. Pompey and Caesar soon began to 
draw apart and at length became open enemies. Rivalry of 
Pompey had the support of the Senate, whose Pompey and 
members believed that Caesar was aiming at Csesar 
despotic power. Caesar, on his side, had an army disciplined 
by eight years of fighting and devoted to his interests. 
Unable to compromise with the Senate, Caesar boldly led 
his troops across the Rubicon, the little stream that sepa¬ 
rated Cisalpine Gaul from Italy. As he plunged into the 
river he exclaimed, “The die is cast.” Since it was illegal 
to bring a provincial army into Italy, Caesar’s action meant 
a declaration of hostilities against the republic. The civil 
war that now ensued was fought in Italy, in Spain, in 
Macedonia, and in North Africa. It ended in the defeat and 
death of Pompey, the overthrow of the senatorial party, 
and the complete supremacy of Caesar in the Roman State. 
He returned to Rome to receive from the servile Senate the 
title of “Father of his Country” (Pater Patriae) and to 
enjoy the power his sword had won. 

82. The Work of Gesar 

The new government which Caesar brought into being was 
a monarchy in all except name. He became die- p owers and 
tator for life and held other republican offices, position of 
such as the consulship and censorship. He re- Caesar 
fused the title of king (rex), but he accepted as a civil magis- 


260 The Great Age of the Roman Republic 

trate the name of imperator (whence our “emperor”)* with 
which the soldiers had been wont to salute a victorious 
general. Though he abolished none of the old republican 
forms, the Senate became simply his advisory council; the 
assemblies, his submissive agents; the consuls, praetors, and 
tribunes, his pliant tools. The laurel wreath, the trium¬ 
phal dress, the conqueror’s scepter — all proclaimed the 
autocrat. 

Caesar used his power wisely and well. No sooner was 
domestic tranquillity assured than, with restless energy, 
Reforms at he entered on a series of far-reaching reforms. 
Rome and His measures sought to remove the economic 
and social evils which a century of discord had 
made so manifest. By restricting the monthly distribution 
of grain to those actually in need, he tried to discourage the 
public charity which was making the capital city a paradise 
for the idle and the shiftless. By establishing great colonies 
beyond the sea, notably on the sites of Carthage and Corinth, 
he sought to provide farms for the landless citizens of 
Italy. Other measures were intended to bring about a 
revival of Italian agriculture. Csesar’s active mind even 
found time to draw up a program for great public works 
at home and abroad, for a census of the population and re¬ 
sources of the Roman world, for the improvement of the 
coinage, and for the reformation of the calendar. His pre¬ 
mature death put an end to most of these undertakings, 
but the “Julian Calendar,” based on that of old Egypt 
(§ 27), has come down to us. 

Csesar’s reforms in the provinces had an epoch-making 
character. He reduced taxes, lessened the burden of collect- 
Reforms in ing them, and took into his own hands the selec- 
the provinces tion of provincial magistrates. The grant of 
Roman citizenship to communities in Gaul and Sicily and 
the appointment of non-Italians to the Senate indicated 
Csesar’s purpose, as rapidly as possible, to convert the 
provincials into Romans. The enlistment of non-Italians 
in the legions was another step in the same direction. 


The Work of Caesar 


261 


Caesar aimed to break down the barriers between Rome and 
her provinces, to wipe out the distinction between the con¬ 
querors and the conquered. 

Caesar did not long enjoy supreme power. A conspiracy 
was formed against him by a group of envious and irrecon¬ 
cilable nobles, who were convinced that he would Assassination 
never restore the republic and that, on the con- of Caesar, 44 
trary, he intended to hand down his authority BX ’ 
to his heir. The ringleaders were Brutus and Cassius, the 
one an officer who had served with Caesar in the Gallic 
campaigns and the other a Pompeian supporter whom he 
had pardoned and given office. The conspirators struck 
him down in the Senate House in the year 44 b.c. He 
fell at the foot of Pompey’s statue, pierced with no less 
than twenty-three wounds. His body was burnt on a pyre 
in the Forum, and his friend Marcus Antonius (Antony) 
pronounced the funeral eulogy. On the night before the 
assassination Caesar had been dining with friends. The guests 
began to talk of death, and the question being asked, “What 
kind of death is best?” Caesar answered, “That which is 
least expected.” 

Julius Caesar, like Alexander the Great, is a colossal figure 
on the stage of history. Like Alexander, also, he died before 
his work as a statesman had hardly more than <4 Cgesarism „ 
begun. His career has impressed the imagination 
of all later ages, and his name has given us a word, “Csesar- 
ism,” for the absolute power which he won so swiftly and 
kept for so brief a time. “Csesarism” met the requirements 
of the situation. It provided what men wanted and needed 
above everything else, that is, peace. Autocracy — the rule 
of one strong man — is certainly preferable to anarchy, or no 
rule at all. Caesar had begun to rule so well that one must 
regret he could not have ruled much longer. His cowardly 
murder did not restore the republic and served only to pro¬ 
long disorder and strife within the State. As Cicero himself 
said, hearing the news, “The tyrant is dead; the tyranny 
still lives.” 


262 The Great Age of the Roman Republic 


83. Antony and Octavian 


Antony 

becomes 

Caesar’s 

successor 


The murderers of Caesar called themselves the “liberators” 
of the republic. They thought all Rome would applaud 
their deed, but the contrary was true. The 
senatorial aristocracy remained lukewarm. The 
people, instead of flocking to their support, 
mourned the loss of a friend and benefactor. The 
conspirators soon found themselves in great peril. Antony, 
who became sole consul after Caesar’s death, quickly made 
himself master of the situation. Brutus and Cassius were 
forced to withdraw to the eastern provinces which had been 
previously assigned to them by Caesar, leaving Antony to 
rule Rome as his successor. 

Antony’s hope of reigning supreme was disturbed before 
long by the appearance of a new rival. Caesar, in his will, had 
a rival in made his grandnephew, Octavius, his adopted 

the young son and heir. The young man, then in his 

nineteenth year, came to Rome, took the in¬ 
heritance, and assumed the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octa- 
vianus. Octavian, as we may now call him, easily made 
himself a power, winning the people by paying Caesar’s lega¬ 
cies to them and conciliating the Senate by siding with it 
against Antony. Men now began to talk of Octavian as the 
destined restorer of the republic. 

Octavian, however, entertained other designs. He had 
never been sincere in his support of the Senate, and the dis- 
Second Tri- trustful policy of that body soon converted him 
umvirate, into an active foe. From fighting Antony, Oc¬ 
tavian turned to alliance with him. The two 
antagonists made up their differences, joined forces with 
Lepidus, one of Caesar’s lieutenants, and then marched on 
Rome at the head of their legions. The city fell again under 
military rule. The three men then united in the Second 
Triumvirate with full authority by vote of the people to 
reorganize the government. 

Brutus and Cassius, meanwhile, had been gathering their 


263 


Antony and Octavian 

forces and Octavian and Antony crossed over to Macedonia 
to meet them. The two armies came into conflict near 
Philippi, a city which Philip II founded and to Batt i e s of 
which he gave his name (§ 48). The double Philippi, 
battle fought here was the most considerable in 42 B,c * 
Roman history up to this time. It ended in the suicide of 
the republican leaders and the dispersal of their troops. This 
was the last attempt to restore the republic by force of arms. 

The republic had been overthrown, but it remained to be 
seen who would be master of the new empire, Octavian or 
Antony. The triumvirate lasted for more than Division of 
ten years, but during this period the incompetent the Roman 
Lepidus was set aside by his stronger colleagues. world 
The two remaining members then divided between them the 
Roman world. Octavian took Italy and the West; Antony 
took the East, with Alexandria as his capital. 

In the western half of the empire Octavian ruled quietly 
and with success. He treated even political opponents with 
moderation and year by year became more popu- octavian in 
lar with all classes. Men congratulated them- the West 
selves upon the return of peace and prosperity under a 
second Caesar. 

Things did not go so well in the eastern half of the empire. 
Antony was clever, but fond of luxury and vice. He had 
married a sister of Octavian, but he soon grew Antony in 
tired of her and put her away for the fascinating the East 
Cleopatra, queen of Egypt. The Romans were startled 
by tidings that to her had .been given Roman territories 
in western Asia, on the pretext that they had once been 
Egyptian possessions, and that to the two sons whom she 
had borne Antony he had willed some of the richest Roman 
provinces. All this was, of course, treasonable. 

Antony’s conduct aroused such public indignation at Rome 
that the Senate deprived him of the powers Battle of 
which he had as triumvir and declared war on Actium, 
Cleopatra. The issue of the contest was not long 31 B-C ‘ 
in doubt. It was decided by a naval battle in the Bay of 


264 The Great Age of the Roman Republic 

Actium, on the coast of Epirus. The fight hardly had begun 
before Cleopatra and Antony sailed away, leaving their 
fleet to take care of itself. Octavian pursued the infatuated 
pair into Egypt. Antony committed suicide, and Cleopatra, 
rather than be led a captive in a Roman triumph, followed 
his example. The death of Cleopatra brought the famous 
dynasty of the Ptolemies (§ 53) to an end. Egypt hence¬ 
forth formed a province of the Roman Empire. 

84. The End of an Epoch 

The Romans had won dominion abroad, only to lose 
freedom at home. The Roman city-state, formerly a self- 
a century of governing commonwealth, became transformed 
revolution into an empire. Two principal causes of the 
transformation may be mentioned. The first cause was 
political strife between Roman citizens. The class struggles 
between rich and poor, aristocrats and commoners, offered 
every opportunity for unscrupulous leaders to mount to 
power, now with the support of the nobles, now with that 
of the populace. The second cause was foreign warfare, 
which enabled ambitious generals, supported by their sol¬ 
diery, to become supreme in the government. Rome, after 
conquering the nations, found that she must herself submit 
to the rule of one man. All this development took place 
in little more than a century. 

Roman society by 133 B.c. had been corrupted and en¬ 
feebled as the result of foreign conquest. Authority more and 
The revoiu- mor e tended to fall into the hands of a small 
tionary move- class — the senatorial aristocracy. Its dishon¬ 
esty and weakness soon led to efforts at re¬ 
form. The attempts of the Gracchi to overthrow the 
Senate’s position and restore popular sovereignty ended in 
failure. Then, in quick succession, arose a series of military 
leaders, who aimed to secure by the sword what was no 
longer to be obtained through constitutional and legal means. 
Marius, a great general but no politician, could only break 


265 


The End of an Epoch 

down and destroy. Sulla, a sincere but narrow-minded 
statesman, could do no more than prop up the structure — 
already tottering — of senatorial rule. Pompey soon undid 
that work and left the constitution to become again the 
sport of rival soldiers. Caesar, triumphing over Pompey, 
gained a position of unchallenged supremacy. After Caesar's 
death, one-man power was permanently restored in the 
person of Octavian. The battle of Actium in 31 B.c. made 
Octavian master of the Roman world. 

Republicanism thus broke down in Italy, as it had broken 
down in Greece (§ 47). Rome now went back to Monarchy 
monarchy. It was the monarchical form of gov¬ 
ernment which Rome passed over to the peoples of Europe 
during the early Middle Ages. 

For Explanation 

publicans 
Gracchi 
Marius 
Sulla 
Verres 
Catiline 
Crassus 

First Triumvirate 

For Discussion 

1. What is meant by describing Carthage as “a dumb actor on the 
stage of history”? Why has she been called the “London” of the 
ancient world? 

2. Was Rome wise in adopting a policy of expansion beyond Italy? 
Was she justified in adopting it? 

3. Can you mention any instances in modern times of war indemnities 
paid by defeated nations? 

4. In what respects was Carthage weak and Rome strong at the opening 
of the Second Punic War? 

5. Contrast Hannibal’s invasion of Rome with Xerxes’s invasion of 
Greece. 

6. What reasons can you give for Hannibal’s early successes and final 
failure? 


Transalpine Gaul 

Rubicon 

Caesarism 

Brutus 

Cassius 

Second Triumvirate 

Cleopatra 

Actium 


Dido 

Punic wars 

Ebro 

Cannae 

Hasdrubal 

Publius Scipio 

Zama 

provincial system 


266 The Great Age of the Roman Republic 

7. Who was the abler general, Alexander or Hannibal? Give reasons 
for your answer. 

8. Comment on this statement: “As the rise of Rome was central in 
history, the Second Punic War was central in the rise of Rome.” 

9. Compare the significance of the Roman victory in the Punic wars with 
that of the Greek victory in the Persian wars. 

10. Might Rome have extended her federal policy to her territories outside 
of Italy? Was a provincial system really necessary? 

11. How did the position of a Roman province differ from that of ( a ) a 
foreign state allied to Rome and ( b ) an Italian tribe or city? 

12. Would import duties on foreign grain have revived Italian agriculture? 

13. Why did the cattle breeder in Italy have no reason to fear foreign 
competition? 

14. Had the Italians triumphed in the Social War, is it likely that they 
would have established a better government than that of Rome? 

15. Why was the rule of the Senate, unsatisfactory though it was, to be 
preferred to that of the Roman populace? 

16. What were the aims of Cicero as a statesman? What circumstances 
made them impracticable at the time? 

17. Compare the services of Cicero to Rome with those of Demosthenes to 
Athens. 

18. Why is the First Triumvirate described as a “ring”? Why did it mark 
a distinct step toward the establishment of the empire? 

19. Why can wars with savage and barbarous peoples be justified as “the 
most ultimately righteous of all wars”? 

20. How did Caesar’s Gallic conquests aid him in his later struggle for 
power? 

21. Was Caesar justified in leading his army against Rome? 

22. Had Pompey triumphed over Caesar, is it likely that the republic would 
have been restored? 

23. Why may Caesar be called the first Roman emperor? 

24. How did the Second Triumvirate differ from the First? 

25. How do you account for the failure of the republican institutions of 
Rome? 

26. Justify the statement, “In the midst of arms the laws are silent,” by 
the facts presented in this chapter. 

For Further Study 

1. Identify the following dates: 264 B.c., 201 b.c., 146 B.C., 133 B.c., 
44 b.c., and 31 B.c. 

2. Study the territorial growth of Rome under the republic (map be¬ 
tween pages 244-245). What parts of Europe remained unconquered 
by the Romans? 


The End of an Epoch 


267 


3. State in regard to each of the following battles: (a) location; ( b ) date; 
(c) opposing parties; ( d ) outcome — Cannae, Zama, Philippi, and 
Actium. 

4. Outline a treaty dividing the lands of the western Mediterranean be¬ 
tween Carthage and Rome in such a way as to reduce friction between 
them. 

5. Write an essay (500 words) on the Gracchi. 

6. Prepare an oral report on our names of the months. Why is December 
the twelfth month instead of the tenth, as its name would indicate? 

7. Prepare an oral report on the Julian Calendar and its later modification 
by Pope Gregory XIII. 

8. Read Shakespeare’s delineation of the character of Caesar {Julius 
Caesar, act iii, scene ii) and compare it with the account of Caesar in 
this chapter. 


Supplementary 

Webster, Readings in Early European History, chapter xv, “Hannibal and 
the Great Punic War”; chapter xvi, “Cato the Censor: a Roman of the 
Old School”; chapter xvii, “Cicero the Orator”; chapter xviii, “The 
Conquest of Gaul, Related by Caesar.” 

Webster and Webb, Historical Outline Maps and Exercises: Early European 
History, No. IX, The Expansion of Rome over the Mediterranean and 
the Formation of the Roman Empire. 



A Battering Ram 

A relief from the Arch of Septimius Severus, 
Rome. 































CHAPTER XI 


THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD UNDER 
ROMAN RULE 

The Roman Empire was in essence the embryo of the modern world, 
and Europe and the West to-day are Rome enlarged. 

— F. S. Marvin 

The Roman Empire, with its political and legal institutions, is the solid 
substructure upon which the later civilization of western Europe has been 
built. 

— A. F. Hattersley 

85. The Early Empire 

The period of two hundred and eleven years, between the 
battle of Actium and the death of the emperor Marcus 
From 31 b.c. Aurelius, is known as the Early Empire. As we 
to iso a.d. shall now learn, it was a time of settled gov¬ 
ernment and of internal tranquillity. Except for one brief 
period, it was also a time of regular succession to the throne. 
Nearly all the emperors were vigorous and capable rulers. 
The peace and prosperity which they gave to the Roman 
world amply justify — if justification be needed—the change 
from republic to empire. 

Few persons have set their stamp more indelibly on the 
pages of history than Octavian, whom we may now call by his 
The emperor more familiar name Augustus (“the Majestic”), 
Augustus conferred upon him by the Senate as a mark of 
distinction. Another title borne by him and his successors 
was that of Imperator, a title previously conferred upon 
Julius Caesar. The emperor Augustus enjoyed practically 
unlimited power, since he was commander-in-chief of the 
army. He took care, however, to conceal his authority under 

268 


The Early Empire 


269 


legal forms and to pose as a republican magistrate holding 
office by appointment of the Senate and the Roman people. 
An American president would have a somewhat similar 
position if he ruled for life instead of for four years, selected 
the members of Congress, and named his successor. Augus¬ 
tus thus gave up the externals, only to keep the essentials, 
of monarchy. 

The Roman Empire in the age of Augustus girdled the 
Mediterranean basin and spread over three continents. 1 On 
the west and south it found 
natural barriers in the Atlantic 
Ocean and the Sa- xheempire 
hara Desert. On the under 
east the Euphrates Augustus 
River divided it from the king¬ 
dom of the Parthians. The 
northern frontier, beyond which 
lay the Germanic barbarians, 
required additional conquests for 
its protection. Augustus, there¬ 
fore, annexed the districts south 
of the Danube, thus securing 
the entire line of this wide, im¬ 
petuous stream as a boundary. 

Between Gaul and Germany the 
boundary continued to be the 
Rhine. The failure of Augustus 
and his successors to annex 
any territory beyond the Rhine 
meant that the Germans were 
not to be Romanized as were their neighbors, the Celts of 
Gaul (§ 81). 

The clash of arms on the distant frontiers scarcely dis¬ 
turbed the serenity of the Roman world. The Augustan 
Age was an age of peace and prosperity. The emperor, 
with unwearied devotion, turned to the task of ruling wisely 
1 See the map between pages 276-277. 



Augustus 

Glyptothek, Munich 
An idealized portrait of the emperor. 
He wears the ‘‘civic crown” awarded to 
him by the Senate in 27 b.c. This was 
a token that his triumph over Antony 
had saved the lives of his countrymen. 



270 The Mediterranean World under Roman Rule 


and well his vast dominions. He followed the example 
of Julius Caesar in his insistence on just government of the 
The Augustan provincials. In Italy he put down brigandage, 
A s e repaired the public highways, and planted many 

colonies in unsettled districts. In Rome he established a 
regular police service, organized the supply of grain and 
water, and continued, on a larger scale than ever, the public 
games. His public works were so numerous that he could 
boast he had “found Rome of brick and left it of marble.” 
He was also a generous patron of literature, and some of the 
most famous Latin authors gave splendor to his reign (§ 98). 
Augustus, furthermore, was very successful as a religious 
reformer. He restored numerous temples that had fallen into 
decay, revived the ancient sacrifices, and celebrated once 
more the festivals that had been neglected. These reforms 
infused new vigor into the Roman religion. 

Even during the lifetime of Augustus, worship had been 
offered to him by the provincials. The Senate after his death 
Emperor in 14 a.d. gave him divine honors and enrolled his 
worship name among the gods. Temples rose in every 
province to the deified Augustus, and altars smoked with 
sacrifices to him. Emperor worship, though so strange to 
us, was not unnatural in the first century a.d. Eastern 
peoples had long been wont to revere their kings (§ 19). 
The Greeks in their hero cults (§ 34) raised to divinity 
after death those who had founded cities or had done deeds 
of splendid service to mankind. The custom of ancestor 
worship (§ 70) also prepared the Roman mind to adore the 
memory of the emperor, the father of the State. Emperor 
worship spread rapidly over the ancient world and helped 
to unite all classes in allegiance to the new government. 

For more than half a century following the death of 
Augustus his place was filled by four emperors who, either by 
The Julian descent or adoption, claimed kinship with him- 
and ciaudian self and the mighty Julius. They are known as 
the Julian and Ciaudian Caesars. None of these 
princes had the commanding ability of Augustus, but two 


JULIUS C/ESAR AUGUSTUS 

A bust in the British Museum, London A bust in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 
















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271 


The Early Empire 

of them (Tiberius and Claudius) were excellent rulers, who 
ably maintained the standards set by that great emperor. 
The other two (Caligula and Nero) were vicious tyrants, 
the recital of whose follies and crimes occupies much space 
in the works of ancient historians. Fortunately, their doings 
and misdoings exerted little influence outside the circle of 
the imperial court and the capital city. Rome itself might 
be disturbed by conspiracy and bloodshed, but Italy and the 
provinces kept their prosperity. 

The reign of Claudius was marked by the beginning of the 
extension of the empire over Britain. The nearness of the 
island to Gaul, already thoroughly Romanized, conquest of 
brought it within the sphere of Roman influence. Britain 
The thorough conquest of Britain proved to be no easy task. 
It was not until the close of the first century that the island, 
as far as the Scottish Highlands, was brought under Roman 
sway. As the province of Britannia it remained a part of 
the empire for more than three hundred years, becoming 
in this time almost as completely Romanized as Spain (§ 78) 
and Gaul (§ 81). Northern Scotland ( Caledonia ) and Ire¬ 
land {Hibernia) the Romans never attempted to conquer. 

During Nero’s reign half of Rome was burned to the ground 
by a great fire which raged for a week. A new Rome speedily 
arose. It was a much finer city than the old, with Burning of 
wide, straight streets instead of narrow alleys, Rome > 64 
and houses of good stone in place of wooden hovels. Except 
for the loss of the temples and public buildings, the fire was 
a blessing in disguise. 

The dynasty that traced its descent from Julius and Augus¬ 
tus became extinct with the death of Nero. No one could 
legally claim the vacant throne. The Senate, The Flavian 
which in theory had the appointment of a succes- Caesars 
sor, was too weak to exercise its power. The imperial guard 
and the legions on the frontiers, profiting by the disorder, 
placed their own candidates in the field. The Roman world 
fell into anarchy, and Italy became once more the seat of 
civil war. The throne was finally secured by an able general, 


272 The Mediterranean World under Roman Rule 


Flavius Vespasianus, supported by the armies of the eastern 
provinces. He and his two sons, Titus and Domitian, are 
called the Flavian Caesars. 

The Jews, ever since Pompey’s campaigns in the Near East 
(§ 81), had been subject to Rome, and Palestine had formed 
capture of a P art the province of Syria. During Ves- 

jerusaiem, pasian’s reign a Jewish revolt was crushed and 

Jerusalem, after a terrible siege of six months, 
was captured by the emperor’s son, Titus. It is said that 
one million Jews perished during the siege and that one 
hundred thousand were sold into slavery. The Holy City 
was destroyed and a Roman camp was pitched upon the spot. 
We may still see in Rome the triumphal arch erected by 
Titus to commemorate his victory. 

The reign of Titus is chiefly memorable for the destruction 
of Pompeii and Herculaneum, two cities at the foot of Mount 
Destruction Vesuvius near Naples. The volcano, which had 
of Pompeii been inactive for centuries, broke forth in a 
lTneum 1 ^" mighty eruption and covered Pompeii with cin¬ 
ders, small stones, and ashes to an average depth 
of eighteen to twenty feet. Herculaneum was overwhelmed 
by the same volcanic deposits, but these, being drenched 
with water, hardened into a sort of rock, which ranges from 
forty to more than one hundred feet in thickness. The un¬ 
fortunate cities were completely entombed, and in time their 
very location was forgotten. The site of Pompeii was acci¬ 
dentally discovered in 1748, and since then excavations have 
laid bare a large part of the ancient city, with its streets, 
shops, baths, temples, and theaters. The visitor there gains 
a vivid impression of Roman life during the first century of 
our era. Little excavation has yet been done at Herculaneum. 

The five rulers—Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, 
and Marcus Aurelius — whose reigns cover the greater part 
The “ Good of the second century, are sometimes called the 
Emperors ” Antonine Caesars, because two of them bore the 
name Antoninus. They are better known as the “Good 
Emperors,” a title which well describes them. Under their 


The Early Empire 


273 


just and beneficent government the empire reached its great¬ 
est prosperity. 

The emperor Trajan rivaled Julius Caesar in military ability 
and enlarged the Roman world to the widest limits it was 
ever to reach. 1 His first campaigns were against Trajan the 
the barbarous Dacians, who formed a kingdom con queror 
north of the Danube. They were thoroughly subdued after 
a hard struggle. Thou¬ 
sands of colonists settled 
in Dacia and brought with 
them Roman civilization. 

The modern name of this 
country (Rumania) and 
the Latinized language of 
its inhabitants bear wit¬ 
ness to Rome’s abiding 
influence there. Trajan’s 
campaigns in the Near 
East had less importance, 
though in appearance 
they were more splendid. 

He conquered Armenia 
and the Tigris-Euphrates 
Valley. To hold in sub¬ 
jection such distant re¬ 
gions only increased the 
difficulty of guarding the 
frontiers. Trajan’s suc¬ 
cessor, Hadrian, aban¬ 
doned them. 

Hadrian distinguished 
himself as an administra¬ 
tor. He may be compared 
with Augustus in his love 
of peace and in his care for the interests of the provincials. 
Hadrian made two long journeys throughout the Roman 
1 See the map between pages 276-277. 



vsrXfiiMd 

.jhnffflfsrr! 

psyo 

ifil 


Column of Trajan 

Near the Forum of Trajan at Rome stands the 
marble column (about 124 feet in height) which 
that emperor set up as a memorial to himself and 
at the base of which his ashes were deposited. A 
bronze statue of Trajan, formerly occupying the 
top of the monument, has been replaced by a 
statue of St. Peter. The column is decorated 
with a continuous spiral relief representing 154 
scenes from the Dacian War. About 2500 separate 
human figures, besides many figures of animals, 
are included in this renlarkable collection. The 
broken columns belonged to the Basilica Ulpia, 
also erected by Trajan. 


274 The Mediterranean World under Roman Rule 


world. On the frontiers he built fortresses and walls; in 
the provinces he raised baths, aqueducts, theaters, and 
Hadrian the temples. Scarcely a city throughout the empire 
administrator i ac ked some monument to his generosity. Ha¬ 
drian left behind him the memory of a prince whose life was 
devoted to the public welfare—the first servant of the State. 



The Mausoleum of Hadrian 


This huge structure is on the right bank of the Tiber and opposite what was once the 
Campus Martius. It was begun by Hadrian in 136 as a tomb for himself and his successors. 
During the Middle Ages it was turned into a castle, which the popes used as a fortress. 
The building rests on a vast square base, above which rises a cylindrical colonnaded story 
and a conical roof. A second story has disappeared, together with the marble facing of the 
tomb and the many statues which ornamented it. The present name, “Castle of the 
Angel” ( Castel' Sant’ Angelo), arose from the legend that the archangel Michael, when a 
great plague raged in Rome during the sixth century, had been seen above the building 
sheathing his fiery sword as a sign that the wrath of the Lord was satisfied. A statue of the 
archangel now crowns the monument. The bridge across the Tiber was also built by 
Hadrian. 


The last of the “Good Emperors,” Marcus Aurelius, was a 
thinker and a student, but he enjoyed little opportunity for 
meditation. His reign was filled with an almost 

Marcus Au- . . ° . . 

reiius, the uninterrupted series of campaigns against the 
phiiosopher Parthians on the Euphrates and the Germans 
on the Danube and the Rhine. These wars re¬ 
vealed the weakness of the frontiers and the rapidly growing 
strength of the barbarians outside the empire. They were 
still going on, when Marcus died of fever in his camp at 



















275 


The Later Empire 

Vienna ( Vindobona ). He must have felt, as he closed his 
eyes forever, that the age of peace and prosperity was draw¬ 
ing to a close and that evil days were now in store for Rome. 

86. The Later Empire 

The period called the Later Empire covers the two hundred 
and fifteen years from the death of the emperor Marcus 
Aurelius to the final division of the Roman world From iso to 
at the death of Theodosius I. It formed, in gen- 395 
eral, a period of decline. The very existence of the empire 
was threatened, from within and from without. The armies 
on the frontiers often set up their favorite leaders as con¬ 
testants for the throne, thus provoking civil war. Am¬ 
bitious governors of distant provinces sometimes revolted 
against a weak or unpopular emperor and tried to establish 
independent states. The Germans took advantage of the 
unsettled condition of affairs to make constant inroads. 
About the middle of the third century it became necessary to 
surrender to them the great province of Dacia, which Trajan 
had won. A serious danger also appeared in the Near East, 
where the Persians endeavored to recover from Roman hands 
the Asiatic provinces which had once belonged to the old 
Persian realm. The Persians failed to make any permanent 
conquest of Roman territory, but their constant attacks 
weakened the empire at the very time when the northern 
barbarians had again become a menace. 

The rulers who occupied the throne during the first half of 
this troubled period are commonly known as the “Soldier 
Emperors,” because so many of them owed their The “ Soldier 
position to the swords of the legionaries. Em- Em P erors ” 
peror after emperor followed in quick succession, to enjoy a 
brief reign and then to perish in some sudden insurrection. 
Within a single year (237-238) six rulers were chosen, wor¬ 
shiped, and then murdered by their troops. “You little 
know,” said one of these imperial phantoms, “what a poor 
thing it is to be an emperor.” The government seemed to 


276 The Mediterranean World under Roman Rule 


be on the verge of collapse near the close of the third century. 
The crisis brought forth a savior in the person of Diocletian. 

Diocletian entered the army as a common soldier, rose to 
high command, and fought his way to the throne. A strong, 
Reign of ambitious man, Diocletian resolutely set himself 
Diocletian, to the task of remaking the Roman government. 
284-305 His success in this undertaking entitles him to 
rank, as a statesman and administrator, with Julius Caesar 
and with Augustus. 

The reforms of Diocletian were meant to remedy those 
weaknesses in the imperial system disclosed by the disasters 




Gold Medallion of Diocletian 

British Museum, London 

On one side, the head of the emperor. On the other side, a figure of Jupiter with thunderbolt 
and scepter and near him the eagle. 


of the preceding century. In the first place, experience 
showed that the empire was unwieldy. There were the 
Weaknesses distant frontiers on the Rhine, Danube, and 
in the im- Euphrates to be guarded; there were all the prov- 
penai system i nces ^ g 0vernec [ a single ruler, however 
able and energetic, had more than he could do. In the second 
place, the succession to the imperial throne was uncertain. 
Now an emperor named his successor, now the Senate elected 
him, and now the swords of the legionaries raised him to the 
purple. Such an unsettled state of affairs constantly invited 
those struggles between rival pretenders which had so nearly 
brought the empire to destruction. 

Diocletian began his reforms by adopting a scheme for 

















































































































































25° 

30° 

35° 

I - 

40° 

45° 

\ 

50° 

55° 

60° 

V. '■ 



Romanized section of the Empire 

Greek section of the Empire 

Oriental section of the Empire 

Boundary of the Roman Empire at the death of 
Augustus, 14 A. D. 


-Important Roman Roads 

X Battlefields (with the year of battle) 
Province names thus: ILLYRIA 



Cyrene 
*enice 

rUENAICA 


THE M.-N.WORKS, BUFFALO, N.Y. 


Longitude East 25° from Greenwi ch 30° 


40 1 





















































277 


The Later Empire 

“Partnership Emperors.” He shared the Roman world with 
a trusted lieutenant named Maximian. Each was to be an 
Augustus , with all the honors of an emperor. “Partnership 
Diocletian ruled the East; Maximian ruled the Emperors” 
West. Further partnership soon seemed advisable, and so 
each Augustus chose a younger associate, or Caesar , to aid him 
in the government and at his death or abdication to become 
his heir. The burdens of the government would henceforth 
be borne by four men, and the empire, it was hoped, would 
never be left without legal heirs to the throne. 

Diocletian also remodeled the provincial system. The 
entire empire, including Italy, was divided into one hundred 
and one provinces, grouped into thirteen dioceses a centralized 
and four prefectures. Henceforth a regular gra- m <> narch y 
dation of public officials reached from the lowest provincial 
magistrates to the governors of the provinces, the vicars of 
the dioceses, the prefects of the prefectures, and finally to 
the emperors themselves. The Roman Empire thus became 
a centralized monarchy. 

The Roman Empire also became an absolute monarchy. 
The emperors, from Diocletian onward, bore the title of 
Dominus (“Lord”). They were treated as gods. An absolute 
Everything that touched their persons was monarchy 
sacred. They wore a diadem of pearls and gorgeous robes of 
silk and gold, like those of Asiatic monarchs. They filled 
their palaces with a crowd of fawning, flattering nobles, and 
busied themselves with an endless round of stately and im¬ 
pressive ceremonials. Such pomps and vanities, which 
former Romans would have thought degrading, helped to 
inspire reverence among the servile subjects of a later age. 
If it was the aim of Augustus to disguise, it was the aim of 
Diocletian to display, the unbounded power of a Roman 
emperor. 

There can be little doubt that Diocletian’s reforms helped 
to prolong the existence of the empire. In one respect, how¬ 
ever, they must be pronounced a failure. They did not end 
the disputes about the succession. Only two years after 


278 The Mediterranean World under Roman Rule 


Diocletian abdicated the throne there were six rival pre¬ 
tenders for the title of Augustus. Their dreary struggles 
Constantine, continued, until at length two emperors were left 
sole emperor — Constantine in the West, Licinius in the East. 
After a few years of joint rule another civil war made Con- 



Gold Medallion of Constantine 


British Museum, London 

On one side, the bust of the emperor, laurel-crowned, dressed in the imperial cloak, and 
holding a scepter and a globe. On the other side, the emperor in consular garb, with globe 
and scepter. 


stantine supreme. The Roman world again had a single 
master. 

Constantine was an able general and a wise statesman. 
Two events of lasting importance have made his reign mem- 
Reign of con- ora hle. It was Constantine who recognized 
stantine, 324- Christianity as one of the religions of the empire 
and thus paved the way for the triumph of that 
faith over the ancient paganism. His work in this connection 
will be discussed in a later chapter. It was Constantine, 
also, who established a new capital for the Roman world at 
Byzantium (§ 38) on the Bosporus. He christened it “New 
Rome,” but it soon took the emperor’s name as Constan¬ 
tinople, the “City of Constantine.” 

Several good reasons could be urged for the removal of the 
world’s metropolis from the Tiber to the Bosporus. The 
Roman Empire was ceasing to be one empire. Constantine 
wanted a great city for the eastern half to balance Rome 
in the western half. Again, Constantinople, far more than 


279 


The Later Empire 

Rome, was the military center of the empire. Rome lay too 
far from the vulnerable frontiers; Constantinople occupied a 
position about equidistant from the Germans Foundation of 
on the lower Danube and the Persians on the constanti- 
Euphrates. Finally, Constantine believed that nople 
Christianity, which he wished to become the prevailing reli¬ 
gion, would encounter less opposition and criticism in his new 
city than at Rome, with its pagan atmosphere and traditions. 



Constantinople was to be not simply a new seat of govern¬ 
ment but also distinctively a Christian capital. Such it 
remained throughout the Middle Ages (§ 162). 

After the death of Constantine the Roman world again 
entered on a period of disorder. The inroads of the Germans 
across the Danube and the Rhine threatened the successors 
European provinces of the empire with dissolu- of Con- 
tion. The outlook in the Asiatic provinces, over- stantme 
run by the Persians, was no less gloomy. Meanwhile, the 





















280 The Mediterranean World under Roman Rule 


eastern and western halves of the empire tended more and 
more to grow apart. The separation between the two had 
become well marked by the close of the fourth century. 
After the death of the emperor Theodosius I (395) there 
came to be in fact, if not in name, a Roman Empire in the 
East and a Roman Empire in the West. The dividing-line 
between them is traced on the map. 1 

The Roman Empire in the East, though attacked by 
enemies from without and weakened by civil conflicts from 
The two within, managed to endure for over a thousand 
empires after years. The Roman Empire in the West, on the 
contrary, moved rapidly to its end at the hands 
of the Germanic barbarians. The story of their invasions 
is reserved for a later chapter. We may now take a survey 
of the Mediterranean world under Roman rule during the 
four centuries between Augustus and Theodosius I. 

87. The Provinces 

The Roman Empire was a civilized state girt about by 
barbarian foes. Where natural barriers of river, sea, or 
The standing desert did not suffice, the empire found a sure 
army defense in the standing army, which policed the 

provinces and guarded every point of danger on the long 
frontier. This army, under Augustus, consisted of twenty- 
five legions, numbering, with the auxiliary forces, about 
three hundred thousand men. Its membership was drawn 
largely from the border provinces, often from the very coun¬ 
tries where the soldiers’ camps were fixed. Though the 
army became less and less Roman in blood, it always kept in 
character and spirit the best traditions of Rome. The long 
intervals of peace were not passed by the soldiers in idleness. 
They built the great highways that penetrated every region 
of the empire, spanned the streams with bridges, raised dikes 
and aqueducts, and taught the border peoples the arts of 
civilization. It was due, finally, to the labors of the legion- 

1 See the map, page 279. 


The Provinces 


281 


aries that the most exposed parts of the frontiers were pro¬ 
vided with an extensive system of walls and ramparts. 

The policy of at once marking 
and protecting the frontier by 
fortifications dated „ 

r , . . . Fortifications 

from the reign of 
Augustus. Later emperors com¬ 
pleted a gigantic scheme of defense 
for the exposed region between 
the Danube and the Rhine. A 
rampart of earth and stone, a 
palisade of stakes, a deep ditch, 
and a chain of forts and watch 
towers were constructed for three 
hundred and thirty-six miles be¬ 
tween the upper waters of the two 
rivers. The remains of these 
works exist to-day. 1 There were 
also two great walls in northern 
Britain to guard that province age - The soldier wears a metal hel * 

. °. 1 met, a leather doublet with shoulder- 

against the inroads of the bar- pieces, a metal-plated belt, and a 

barianS sword hanging from a strap thrown 

" over the left shoulder. His left hand 

1 he Roman system of roads holds a large shield, his right, a heavy- 

received its greatest extension javelin - 
during the imperial age. The principal trunk lines began at 
the gates of Rome and radiated thence to every quarter of 
the empire. Along these highways sped the Roadg 
couriers of the Caesars, carrying dispatches and 
making, by means of relays of horses, as much as one hundred 
and fifty miles a day. They resounded to the tramp of the 
legionaries passing to their stations on the distant frontier. 
Travelers by foot, horseback, or litter journeyed on them 
from land to land, employing the maps which described 
routes and distances. Traders used them for the transport 
of merchandise and so they became important arteries of 
commerce. Roman roads were the railways of antiquity. 

1 See the illustration, page 346. 



A Legionary 

From a monument of the imperial 






282 The Mediterranean World under Roman Rule 



The principal roads in the provinces are shown on the 
map. 1 The city of Aquileia (modern Trieste) was the starting 
Roads in the point for several important routes which led down 
provinces the eastern side of the Adriatic into Greece and 
across the Balkan peninsula into Asia Minor. Thence other 
routes penetrated the interior as far as the Euphrates and 
Tigris rivers, while still others passed through Syria and 
Palestine into Egypt. A long highway followed the north¬ 
ern coast of Africa to the Strait of 
Gibraltar and connected the cities of 
Alexandria, Cyrene, and Carthage. 
Spain, Gaul, the Danubian provinces, 
and Britain were also well supplied 
with roads. Traces of the Roman 
occupation are still found along these 
highways: the coins of a treasure 
chest; images of pagan gods; inscrip¬ 
tions on tombs and altars; and some¬ 
times the walls of a soldiers’ camp, 
now marked by grassy mounds. 

The Roman Empire, at its widest extent in the second 
century, included forty-three provinces. The imperial gov- 
Provindai ernment conferred on them great and lasting 
government benefits. They were shielded from barbarian 
invasion; they were brought into close contact through the 
opportunities for travel and trade; and they were given good 
government. 

The grant of Roman citizenship to all Italians after the 
Social War (§ 80) only increased for a time the contrast 
Extension of between Italy and the provinces. Caesar’s legis- 
Roman lation began, however, the work of uniting the 

citizenship Roman and the provincial (§ 82). More and 

more the emperors followed in his footsteps. The extension 
of Roman citizenship was a gradual process covering two 
centuries. Claudius gave the franchise to a large part of 
Gaul. Hadrian, himself a provincial from Gaul, completely 
1 See the map between pages 276-277. 


A Roman Vehicle 

Representation on a coin. 


The Provinces 


283 


enfranchised his native country. It was left for the emperor 
Caracalla, early in the third century, to take the final step. 
In 212 he issued an edict which bestowed Roman citizenship 
on all free-born inhabitants of the provinces. Gauls, Britons, 
Spaniards, North Africans, Egyptians, Jews, Syrians, and 
Greeks were henceforth Romans equally with the peoples 
of Italy. It is not probable that Caracalla took this step 
from any statesmanlike motive. His purpose was to increase 
the revenue, especially by the tax on inheritances, to which 
only Roman citizens were liable. The fact remains, however, 



The emperor Hadrian, or one of his successors, raised a solid wall of concrete, faced with 
cut stone, between the Tyne River and the Solway Firth, a distance of about seventy- 
three miles. This wall is from six to eight feet thick and was originally about seventeen feet 
high. A deep ditch on the north side of the wall, another ditch and an earthen rampart on 
the south of it, and a broad road lined with numerous forts and seventeen military camps 
completed the defenses. The view shows a well-preserved section of the wall near House- 
steads, in Northumberland. 

that his famous edict completed the work, begun so many 
centuries before, of making Roman all the Mediterranean 
world. 

The gift of complete citizenship, though it increased the 
burden of taxation, brought no slight advantage to those who 
possessed it. A Roman citizen could not be mal- Privileges 
treated or punished without a legal trial before of Roman 
Roman courts. If accused in a capital case, he cltlzens 
could always protect himself against an unjust decision by an 
“appeal to Caesar”; that is, to the emperor at Rome. We 


284 The Mediterranean World under Roman Rule 


know from the New Testament that St. Paul, a native of 
Tarsus in Asia Minor, throughout his travels claimed the 
rights of citizenship and that on one occasion, when on trial 
for his life, he appealed to the emperor from the sentence of 
a provincial governor (§ 101). Wherever he lived, a Roman 
citizen enjoyed, for both his person and his property, the 
protection of Roman law. 

88. The Roman Law and the Latin Language 

The Romans were the most legal-minded people of antiq¬ 
uity. It was their mission to give laws to the world. The 
Improvement code of the Twelve Tables (§71), which they 
of Roman law f rame d almost at the beginning of the republic, 
long remained the basis of their legal system. This code 
was so harsh, technical, and brief that it could not meet the 
needs of a progressive State. The Romans gradually im¬ 
proved their legal system, especially after they began to rule 
over conquered nations. The disputes which arose between 
citizens and subjects were decided by the praetors or pro¬ 
vincial governors in accordance with what seemed to them 
to be principles of justice and right. These principles found 
a place in Roman law, together with many rules and ob¬ 
servances of foreign peoples. 

Roman law thus became exact, impartial, liberal, and 
humane. It limited the use of torture to force confession 
Character of from persons accused of crime. It protected the 
Roman law child against a father’s tyranny. It provided 
that a master who killed a slave should be punished as a 
murderer, and even taught that all men are originally free 
by the law of nature and therefore that slavery is contrary 
to natural right. Justice it defined as “the steady and 
abiding purpose to give every man that which is his own.” 
As we shall learn later (§ 161), Roman law passed over to 
the Middle Ages and has come down to modern times. 

The conquest by Latin of the languages of the world is al¬ 
most as interesting and important a story as the conquest by 


The Roman Law and the Latin Language 285 

Rome of the nations of the world. Latin, at first, was the 
speech of only the people of Latium. Beyond the limits of 
Latium, Latin came into contact with the many 
different languages spoken in early Italy. Some 
of them, such as Greek and Etruscan, soon disappeared from 
Italy after Roman expansion, but those used by native 
Italian peoples showed more power of resistance. It was 
not until the last century B.c. that Latin was thoroughly 
established in the central and southern parts of the penin¬ 
sula. After the Social War (§ 80) the Italian peoples became 
citizens of Rome, and with Roman citizenship went Latin 
speech. 

The Romans carried their language to the barbarian peoples 
of the West, as they had carried it to Italy. Their mission¬ 
aries were colonists, merchants, soldiers, and pub- Latin in the 
lie officials in the western provinces. The Latin western 
spoken by them was eagerly taken up by the rude, provinces 
unlettered natives, who tried to make themselves as much 
like their conquerors as possible. This provincial Latin was 
not simply the language of the upper classes; the common 
people themselves used it freely, as we know from thousands 
of inscriptions found in western and central Europe. In the 
countries that now make up Spain, Portugal, France, Bel¬ 
gium, Switzerland, Austria, Rumania, and England the old 
national tongues were abandoned for the Latin of Rome. 

The decline of the Roman Empire did not bring about the 
downfall of the Latin language in the West. It became the 
basis of the so-called Romance languages— Romance 
Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Ru- languages 
manian — which developed in the Middle Ages out of the 
Latin spoken by the common people of Italy and the prov¬ 
inces. Our English language, though in the main derived 
from the speech of the Germanic invaders of Britain, contains 
so many words of Latin origin that we can scarcely utter a 
sentence without using some of them. The rule of Rome 
has passed away; the language of Rome survives to enrich 
the intellectual life of mankind. 


286 The Mediterranean World under Roman Rule 


89. The Cities 

The peace and prosperity which the Mediterranean world 
enjoyed during the first two centuries of our era fostered the 
important growth of cities. Some had earlier been native 
cities settlements, such as those in Gaul before the 

Roman conquest. Others were the splendid Hellenistic cities 
in the Near East (§53). Many more were of Roman origin, 
arising from the colonies and fortified camps in which citizens 
and soldiers had settled. Rome was the largest of these 
cities, her population being estimated at between one and 
two millions. Alexandria came next with more than half 
a million people. Syracuse ranked as the third metropo¬ 
lis of the empire. Italy contained such important towns as 
Genoa, Florence, Verona, Milan, and Ravenna. In Gaul 
were Marseilles, Arles, Nimes, Bordeaux, Lyons, Strasbourg, 
Cologne, and Mainz. In Spain were Barcelona, Cadiz, Carta¬ 
gena, and Seville. In Britain, York and London were seats 
of commerce, Chester and Lincoln were military colonies, 
and Bath was celebrated then, as now, for its medicinal 
waters. Carthage had risen in new splendor from its ashes. 
Athens and Corinth were still homes of Greek art and Greek 
culture. Western Asia included such ancient and important 
centers as Pergamum, Smyrna, Ephesus, Rhodes, and Anti¬ 
och. The student who reads in his New Testament the Acts 
of the Apostles will get a vivid impression of some of these 
great capitals. 

Every city was a miniature Rome, with its forum and 
senate-house, its temples, theaters, and baths, its circus for 
Appearance racing, and its amphitheater for gladiatorial com- 
of the cities bats. Most of the cities enjoyed an abundant 
supply of water, and some had good sewer systems and well- 
paved, though narrow, streets. The excavations at Pompeii 
(§ 85) have revealed to us the appearance of one of these 
ancient cities. What we find at Pompeii was repeated on a 
more splendid scale in hundreds of places from the Danube 
to the Nile, from Britain to Arabia. 


The Cities 


287 


The cities of Roman origin, especially those in the western 
provinces, copied the municipal system of Rome. Each had 
a council, or senate, and a popular assembly citygovern- 
which chose the magistrates. These officials ment 
were generally rich men; they received no salary and, in 
fact, had to pay a large sum on entering office. The Ro¬ 
man system of city government descended to the Middle 
Ages (§ 176) and so passed over to our own day. 

Local politics excited the keenest interest. Many of the in¬ 
scriptions found on the walls of Pompeii are election placards 
recommending particular candidates for office. Citylife 
Some statements are very much to the point, as, 1 y 1 e 
“Vote for Gaius Julius Polybius, he provides fine bread,” or 
“Vote for Bruttius Balbus, he will manage the city treasury 
well. ,, To ridicule a candidate some one wrote, “All the 
sleepy men nominate Vatia as aedile.” Even women took 
part in political contests. Distribution of grain, oil, and 
money were made to needy citizens in imitation of the bad 
Roman practice. There were public banquets, imposing fes¬ 
tivals, wild-beast hunts, and bloody contests of gladiators, 
like those at Rome. 

The cities were not supported by the imperial revenues, 
or, as in our own age, out of direct taxes levied on the 
citizens. Much income came from mines, quar- support of 
ries, and other public property. Private individ- the cities 
uals, however, bore a large share of the expenditures for 
pavements, buildings, education, feasts, and games. Heavy 
contributions for such purposes were expected from all who 
held the honor of a magistracy. A law was even passed 
forbidding a candidate to promise great benefactions to the 
voters, unless, after election, he carried them out. There 
was also much unselfish giving. Wealthy men were glad to 
win the applause of their fellows by splendid donations. 
Many of the emperors also made gifts for civic purposes. 
There probably never has been a period in the world’s 
history, unless it is our own, when wealth was more generally 
regarded as a sacred trust for the benefit of society at large. 


288 The Mediterranean World under Roman Rule 


90. Commerce and Industry 


Trade routes 


The first two centuries of our era also formed the golden 
age of Roman commerce. Augustus and his successors kept 
promotion of the seas free from pirates, built lighthouses and 
commerce improved harbors, policed the highways, and 
made travel by land both speedy and safe. An imperial 
currency 1 replaced the various national coinages with their 
limited circulation. The vexatious import and export duties, 
levied by different countries and cities on foreign products, 
were swept away. Free trade flourished between the cities 
and provinces of the Roman world. 

Roman commerce followed, in general, the routes which 
had been used by Phoenicians and Greeks. The annexation 
of Gaul, Britain, and the districts north and 
south of the Danube opened up trade channels 
between western and central Europe and the Mediterranean 
basin. Imports from the Far East reached the Mediterra¬ 
nean either by caravan through Asia or by ships which sailed 
across the Indian Ocean to the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. 

The importation and disposal of foreign goods at Rome 
furnished employment for many thousands of traders. There 
Local trading were great wholesale merchants whose ware- 
at Rome houses stored grain and all kinds of merchandise. 
There were also many retail shopkeepers. They might be 
sometimes the slaves or freedmen of a wealthy noble, who 
supplied them with capital but himself kept in the back¬ 
ground. Sometimes they were men of free birth. The feeling 
that petty trade was unworthy of a citizen, though strong in 
republican days, tended to disappear under the empire. 

The members of a particular craft or profession often 
banded together into what may be called a guild. There were 
Guilds guilds of butchers, bakers, weavers, shoemakers, 
jewelers, painters, musicians, and even of gladi¬ 
ators. The Roman emperors looked with suspicion on these 
associations, as possible centers of conspiracy or disorder, and 
1 See the plate facing page 204. 


289 


Commerce and Industry 

required them to be licensed. The guilds were not organized, 
as are our trade unions, to secure higher wages and shorter 
hours by strikes or threat of strikes. They seem to have 
existed chiefly for social and religious purposes. Each guild 
had its clubhouse for official meetings and banquets. Each 
one had its special deity, such as Vesta, the fire goddess, for 
bakers, and Bacchus, the wine god, for innkeepers. Every 
year the guildsmen held a festival in honor of their patron 
and marched through the streets with banners and the em¬ 
blems of their trade. Nearly all the guilds had as one main 



Albertinum, Dresden 

A tomb relief of the imperial age, from Rome. The inside of the shop is shown, with 
the butcher at work and with his wife writing accounts. 

object the provision of a proper funeral and tomb for de¬ 
ceased members. The humble laborer found some consola¬ 
tion in the thought that he belonged to a club of friends and 
fellow workers who after death would give him decent burial 
and keep his memory green. 

Free workingmen throughout the Roman world seem to 
have led a fairly comfortable existence. They were not forced 
to labor for long hours in grimy, unwholesome Life of the 
factories. Slums existed, but no sweatshops. If working 
wages were low, so also was the cost of living. classes 
Wine, oil, and wheat flour were cheap. The public baths 





290 The Mediterranean World under Roman Rule 

stood open to every one who could pay a trifling fee. Numer¬ 
ous holidays, celebrated with games and shows, brightened 
existence. It is perhaps significant that Roman annals con¬ 
tain no record of a single labor strike. 

The class of small farmers well-nigh disappeared from 
Italy during late republican times (§ 79). This class did not 
Landholding rev ^ ve during the imperial age. Most of the 
land continued to be owned by a few wealthy 
men, who worked it with slave labor or else rented it out to 
the former peasant owners. The latter thus became ten¬ 
ants, depending on their landlords for tools and stock and 
paying to them a percentage of the crops as rent. Many ten¬ 
ants were not much better off than slaves, for the law often 
compelled them to work for their masters a certain number 
of days each year without recompense and also forbade them 
to leave their farms in search of employment elsewhere. 
Such compulsory tenants are called “serfs.” This system 
of landholding had long prevailed in the Near East and in 
North Africa under the Carthaginians. The Romans ex¬ 
tended the system to Spain, Gaul, Britain, and other prov¬ 
inces, and it afterward became general throughout western 
Europe during the Middle Ages (§ 136). 

91. Roman Society during the Imperial Age 

We have already noticed what striking changes took 
place in Roman society after the era of foreign conquest; 
Luxury and in particular, the growth of luxury and the heap- 
extravagance i n g_ U p 0 f riches in the hands of a few. This 
movement continued during the imperial age. There had 
been rich men in the last century of the republic; their 
number increased and their fortunes rose under the empire. 
The natural result was great extravagance. “Since Roman 
poverty departed,” declared a pagan moralist, “every lust 
is in our midst.” The palaces of the wealthy, with their 
gardens, baths, picture galleries, and other features, were 
costly to build and costly to keep up. The money not 


Roman Society during the Imperial Age 291 

lavished by a noble on his town house could be easily sunk 
on his villas in the country. All Italy, from the Bay of 
Naples to the foot of the Alps, was dotted with elegant resi¬ 
dences, having flower gardens, game preserves, fishponds, 
and artificial lakes. Much senseless waste occurred at ban¬ 
quets and entertainments. The fare of the rich was as 
sumptuous as the food of the poor was mean. We are told 
of one notorious epicure who, after spending several millions 
on the pleasures of the table, committed suicide when he 
found that he had only half a million left. Vast sums were 
spent on vessels of gold and silver, jewelry, clothing, and 
house furnishings. Even funerals and tombs required heavy 



outlays. A magnate and capitalist of imperial Rome could 
get rid of a fortune in selfish indulgences almost as readily 
as any modern millionaire not blessed with a refined taste 
or with public spirit. 

It is easy, after centuries of Christian progress, to criticize 
many features of Roman society in pagan times. The in¬ 
stitution of slavery condemned multitudes to some social 
bare, hard, hopeless lives. Infanticide, especially evils 
of female children, was frequent among the lower classes, 
as was suicide among the upper classes. Marriage became 
a mere civil contract, easily made and easily broken. There 









292 The Mediterranean World under Roman Rule 


were Roman women, it was said, who counted their years by 
the number of their husbands. Common as divorce had 
become, the married state was more and more regarded as 
undesirable. Augustus vainly made laws to encourage matri¬ 
mony and discourage celibacy. The brutal gladiatorial 
games (§ 96) were a passion with every one, from the 
emperor to his lowest subject. Both educated and unedu¬ 
cated people believed firmly in magic, witchcraft, and the 
existence of demons. The decline of the earlier paganism 
left many men without a deep religious faith to combat the 
growing doubt and worldliness of the age. 

Yet this dark picture needs correction. It may be ques¬ 
tioned whether the vice, luxury, and wickedness of ancient 
Humani- Rome, Corinth, Antioch, or Alexandria much 

tarianism exceeded what our great modern capitals can 
show. During the imperial age, moreover, remarkable im¬ 
provements took place in social life and manners. There 
was an increasing kindliness and charity. The weak and the 
infirm were better treated. The education of the poor was 
encouraged by the founding of free schools. Wealthy citizens 
lavished their fortunes on such public works as baths, aque¬ 
ducts, and temples, for the benefit of all classes. Even the 
slaves received better treatment. Imperial laws aimed to 
check the abuses of neglect, overwork, and cruelty, and phi¬ 
losophers recommended to masters the exercise of gentle¬ 
ness and mercy toward their bondmen. A great growth of 
the humanitarian spirit was characteristic of the times. 

92. The Gr^co-Oriental-Roman World 

The Roman Empire consisted of three sections, differing 
widely in their previous history. 1 There was an Oriental 
Sections of section, which included such parts of the Near 
the Roman East as had come under Roman rule; there was a 
Empire Greek section centering about the Aegean; and 
there was a distinctively Roman or Latin section, which 
1 See the map between pages 276-277. 


The Graeco-Oriental-Roman World 


293 


consisted of the western provinces. In the Near East the 
Romans came only as conquerors, and Roman culture never 
took deep root there. The same was true of the Aegean 
lands, where the Greek language and customs held their 
ground. In the barbarian West, however, the Romans ap¬ 
peared not only as conquerors, but also as civilizers. “How 
many settlements,” exclaims an ancient author, “have been 
planted in every province! Wherever a Roman conquers, 
there he dwells. ” The Romanization of the western prov¬ 
inces (modern Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Switzer¬ 
land, and England), together with the Rhine and Danube 
valleys, forms quite the most significant aspect of ancient 
history. 

Just as Alexander’s conquests, by uniting the Near East 
and Greece, produced a Hellenistic civilization, so now the 
expansion of Rome throughout the Mediterra- Unificat ionof 
nean basin and beyond the Alps gave rise to a the Roman 
still wider civilization, which embraced much of Empire 
Europe and the adjacent parts of Asia and Africa. The 
Roman Empire contained from seventy-five to one hundred 
million people, at peace with one another, possessing the same 
rights of citizenship, obeying one law, speaking Latin in the 
West and Greek in the East, and bound together by trade, 
travel, and a common loyalty to the imperial government. 
Rome thus made a tremendous advance toward international¬ 
ization, toward the formation of a society embracing civilized 
mankind. 


For Explanation 


Tiberius 

Claudius 

Britannia 


Flavian Caesars 
Vespasian 


Julian and Claudian Caesars 


Trajan 

Hadrian 


Pompeii 


Herculaneum 
Good Emperors 


Diocletian 
Constantine 
Theodosius I 
New Rome 
diocese 


Titus 

Domitian 


Marcus Aurelius prefecture 

Soldier Emperors Edict of Caracalla 

Absolute Emperors Appeal to Caesar 


294 The Mediterranean World under Roman Rule 

For Discussion 

1. Show that Augustus continued, in general, the statesmanlike policies 
of Julius Caesar. 

2. Compare the Augustan Age at Rome with the Age of Pericles at 
Athens. 

3. What were the natural boundaries (rivers, seas, mountains, and 
deserts) of the Roman Empire under Trajan? Were these boundaries 
entirely satisfactory from the point of view of defense against foreign 
enemies? 

4. Compare as to extent the Roman Empire under Trajan with ( a ) the 
empire of Darius I and ( b ) the empire of Alexander. 

5. Of the emperors from Augustus to Marcus Aurelius which one had 
the most attractive personality? Which one performed the greatest 
services for the empire? Which one was the wisest administrator? 

6. What elements of weakness in the Roman government had been dis¬ 
closed during the century 180-284? 

7. Explain Diocletian’s plan of “Partnership Emperors.” Why did it 
seem advisable? 

8. How was the Roman Empire under Diocletian and his successors a 
centralized monarchy? How was it an absolute monarchy? 

9. What arguments might have been made for and against the removal 
of the capital to Constantinople? 

10. Compare the Roman armies under the empire with the standing armies 
of modern Europe. 

11. What was the “spoils system” in the government of the provinces? 
How did Augustus play the part of a “civil-service reformer”? 

12. Why should Rome have made a greater success of her imperial policy 
than Athens? 

13. Compare Roman liberality in extending the franchise with the similar 
policy followed by the United States. 

14. Comment on the significance of the Edict of Caracalla. 

15. What are the Romance languages and why are they so called? 

16. Compare the free trade between the provinces of the Roman Empire 
with that between the states of the American Union. 

17. How did the existence of slavery in antiquity discourage the invention 
of labor-saving machinery? 

18. What are some of the moral and social evils of slavery? 

19. Compare the ancient Roman Empire with the modern British Empire 
as civilizing forces. 

20. Compare the Romanization of the ancient world with the process of 
Americanization in the United States. 

21. “The Roman Empire is the lake in which all the streams of ancient 
history lose themselves and which all the streams of modern his¬ 
tory flow out of.” What does this statement mean? 


The Graeco-Oriental-Roman World 


295 


22. “ Republican Rome had little to do, either by precept or example, with 
the modem life of Europe, imperial Rome everything.” Can you 
justify this statement? 


For Further Study 


1. Connect the proper events with the following dates: 14 a.d., 180 a.d., 
284 a.d., 395 a.d. 

2. Read Tennyson's poem, Boadicea, and report upon it to the class. 

3. Write a letter describing, as an imaginary eyewitness, the triumph 
celebrated by Titus for his victories over the Jews. 

4. Make a list of the modern countries included within the limits of the 
Roman Empire under Trajan. 

5. Trace the boundaries of the Roman Empire in 395 and name the four 
prefectures (map, page 279). 

6. Give the Roman names of Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Britain, 
Scotland, and Ireland. 

7. Name and locate fifteen important cities of modern Spain, France, 
Germany, and England which existed during the Roman imperial age. 

8. Trace the main roads of the Roman Empire, noting the principal cities 
which they connected (map between pages 276-277). 


Supplementary 


Webster, Readings in Early European History , chapter xix, “The Makers 
of Imperial Rome: Character Sketches by Suetonius”; chapter xx, 
“Nero: a Roman Emperor.” 

Webster and Webb, Historical Outline Maps and Exercises: Early European 
History, No. X, The Roman Empire at the End of the Fourth Century. 



MGRASSIFRVGI 

AQ^AMARINAETBALN 

NVAfUVS- 



Latin Inscription 

An inscription on a marble tablet from a Roman 
bath. 


CHAPTER XII 


ROMAN LIFE AND THOUGHT 

The center of our studies, the goal of our thoughts, the point from 
which all paths lead and the point from which all paths start again, is to 
be found in Rome and her abiding power. 

— E. A. Freeman 

Alike in literature, in art, in philosophy, and in religion, Rome built the 
bridge over which many of the best thoughts and finest models of antiquity 
found their way into the medieval and thence into the modern world. 

— H. H. Asquith 


93. Education 


The home training, which was all that Roman boys received 
at first, aimed to fix good habits rather than to impart knowl¬ 
edge. The father took his son into 
the fields to learn the work of a 
Home train- farmer and into the 
ing (141) Forum to learn the 
duties of a citizen. Since every 
Roman was bred for the soldier’s 
life, the boy was taught the use of 
arms, as well as such manly exer¬ 
cises as riding and swimming. He 
also acquired from his father’s tui¬ 
tion some knowledge of reading, 
writing, and arithmetic. 

When elementary schools be- 
Eiementary came popular, their 
schools instruction more and 
more took the place of the fa¬ 
ther’s teachings. A boy began his school days at about the 

296 



A Roman Cameo 

Supposed to represent the youth¬ 
ful Germanicus, a nephew of the 
emperor Tiberius. 



Education 


297 


age of seven. He learned to read, to write with a stylus 
on wax tablets, and to cipher by means of the reckoning 
board, or abacus. He received a little instruction in singing 
and memorized proverbs and maxims, besides the laws of 
the Twelve Tables (§71). His studying went on under the 
watchful eyes of a harsh schoolmaster, who did not hesitate 
to use the rod. A Roman poet tells us that if a boy missed a 
single syllable in his reading, he was soon black and blue all 
over — “striped just like his nurse’s cloak.” 

After Rome began to come into close contact with Greece 
(§ 79), the curriculum was enlarged by the study of litera¬ 
ture. The Romans were 
the first people who made 

the learning Grammar 

of a foreign schools 
tongue an essential part 
of a liberal education. 

Schools now arose in 
which the Greek lan¬ 
guage and literature 
formed the chief subject 
of instruction. As Latin 
literature developed, its productions were also studied. 
Cicero’s orations and the poems of Virgil and Horace were 
in common use as texts for study. In these grammar schools 
Roman boys completed their ordinary education. By this 
time they would have become of age (usually between the 
fourteenth and seventeenth years) and would now be ready 
to assume the duties of citizenship. 

The rhetoric schools lay outside the regular educational 
system. They were conducted by Greek, and occasionally by 
Roman, teachers. These institutions were like Rhetoric 
our colleges in providing an advanced course for schools 
young men who had already finished their elementary studies. 
The instruction given in them had to do chiefly with the art 
of prose composition and the practice of public speaking. 
Their work became very popular at Rome, for oratory was 



Roman Abacus or Counting Board 

















298 Roman Life and Thought 

one of the main avenues to distinction open to a young man 
of ability and ambition. 

Persons of wealth or noble birth might continue the train¬ 
ing of the rhetoric schools by a university course at a Greek 
Travel and city, such as Athens, Alexandria, or Rhodes, 
study abroad Here the Roman youth would listen to lectures 
on philosophy delivered by the deep thinkers whom Greece 
still produced, and would profit by the treasures of art and 
science preserved in those ancient capitals. Many famous 
Romans thus passed several years abroad in graduate study. 
During the imperial age real universities also arose in the 
West, particularly in Gaul and Spain, and attracted students 
from all parts of the empire. 

94. The Home 

The mild Mediterranean climate permitted the Romans, as 
well as the Greeks, to wear a simple, scanty costume, one that 
did not change constantly with 
the whims of fashion but remained 
clothing; almost the same for 

the toga many centuries. The 

toga, corresponding to the Greek 
mantle (§ 58), formed the public 
dress of the citizen. It was a 
heavy, woolen robe, white in color, 
enveloping the entire figure and 
reaching to the feet. Roman boys 
wore a toga with a crimson border. 
On reaching their majority they ex¬ 
changed it for a pure white toga. 

The excavations at Pompeii (§ 85) afford a very good idea 
of a Roman house, especially of its interior arrangements. 
House; the A small vestibule opened from the street into a 
atrium narrow passage closed at the farther end by a 

heavy oaken door. A dog was sometimes kept chained in 
this hallway; in Pompeii there is a picture of one worked 



Pompeian Floor Mosaic 











The Home 


299 


in mosaic on the floor, with the warning beneath it, “Be¬ 
ware of the dog.” Having made known his presence by using 
the knocker, the guest was ushered into the reception room, 
or atrium. This was a large apartment covered with a roof, 
except for a hole in the center admitting light and air. 
A marble basin underneath caught the rain water which 
came through the opening. The atrium represents the single 
room of the early Roman house without windows or chimney. 



1. Passage 5. Porter’s room 8. Master’s room 12,14. Sleeping rooms 

2. 2. Shops 6, 6. Sleeping rooms 9. Passage 13. Kitchen 

3. Atrium 6\ Storeroom 10. Peristyle 15. Dining room 

4,4. Stairways to upper floor 7. Wing 11. House shrines 16. Backdoor 


A corridor from the atrium led into the peristyle, a spacious 
court, open to the sky and inclosed by a colonnade or portico. 
This delightful spot, rather than the formal Thg peristyle 
atrium, was the center of family life. About it 
were grouped the bedchambers, bathrooms, dining rooms, 
kitchen, and other apartments of a comfortable mansion. 
Still other rooms occupied the upper stories of the dwelling. 

The Romans, as well as the Greeks, had few articles of 
furniture in their houses. They seem to have „ . 

,1 /• - i i J i r i Furniture 

cared less for comfort than they did for costly 
materials, fine workmanship, and artistic forms. What furni¬ 
ture they had was enough, and just enough, to be in keeping 
with the stately atrium and the graceful peristyle. 

































300 


Roman Life and Thought 



House of the Vettii at Pompeii (Restored) 


Notice the large area of blank wall on both the front and the side. The front windows 
are very small and evidently of less importance for admitting light than the openings of 
the two atria. At the back is seen the large, well-lighted peristyle. This house was exca¬ 
vated in 1894-1895. 



Atrium of a Pompeian House 

The view shows the atrium with the basin for rain water; in the center, the tablinum 
with its wall paintings; and the peristyle at the rear. 































Daily Life at Rome 301 

95. Daily Life at Rome 

A Roman of the higher class, who lived in late republican or 
early imperial times, passed through much the same daily 
routine as an Athenian citizen in the days of Morning 
Pericles or Demosthenes. He rose at an early round of a 
hour and after a light breakfast attended to his Roman noble 
private business with the help of his steward and manager. 
He then took his place in the atrium to meet the crowd of 
poor dependents who came to pay their respects to their 
patron and to receive their usual morning alms — either 
food or sufficient money to buy a modest dinner. Having 
greeted his visitors and perhaps helped them in legal or 
business matters, the noble entered his litter and was carried 
down to the Forum. Here he might attend the law courts 
to plead a case for himself or for his clients. If he were a 
member of the Senate, he would take part in the deliberations 
of that body. At eleven o'clock, when the ordinary duties 
of the morning were over, he would return home to eat his 
luncheon and enjoy the midday rest, or siesta. The practice 
of having a nap in the heat of the day became so general 
that at noon the streets of a Roman city had the same 
deserted appearance as at midnight. 

After an hour of refreshing sleep it was time for the regular 
exercise out of doors in the Campus Martius or indoors at one 
of the large city baths. Many houses of wealthy The afternoon 
nobles also contained special rooms fitted up for exercise and 
gymnastic exercises, especially for the game of bath 
handball. Then came one of the chief pleasures of a Roman's 
existence — the daily bath. It was taken ordinarily in one 
of the public bathing establishments. A Roman bath was 
a luxurious affair. After undressing, the bathers entered 
a warm anteroom and sat for a time on benches, in order 
to perspire freely. This was a precaution against the danger 
of passing too suddenly into the hot bath, which was taken 
in a large tank of water sunk in the middle of the floor. 
Then came an exhilarating cold plunge and anointing with 


302 


Roman Life and Thought 

perfumed oil. The bathers afterward rested on the couches 
with which the resort was supplied and passed the time in 
reading or conversation until the hour for dinner. 

Dinner with the Romans, as with the Greeks, formed the 
principal meal of the day. It was usually a social function. 
Dinner and The h° s t an d g ues ts reclined on couches ar- 
the sympo- ranged about a table. The meal took a long 
time; three hours was considered a moderate 
length. Elaborate meals sometimes consisted of six or seven 
courses, each made up of a number of dishes. The Romans 
borrowed from the Greeks the custom of ending a banquet 
with a symposium, or drinking-bout. The tables were cleared 
of dishes and the guests were anointed with perfumes and 
crowned with flowers. During the symposium professional 
performers entertained the guests with music, dancing, pan¬ 
tomimes, and feats of jugglery. 

96. Roman Amusements 

The Romans had few of the civic festivals which did so 
much to make life interesting and attractive for the Greeks. 
Dramatic Perhaps the triumph, celebrated by a victorious 
performances general on his return from war, was the nearest 
approach to the splendid pageants we find at Athens. Nor 
were dramatic performances greatly in vogue at Rome. The 
average citizen could not endure to sit all day on the hard 
stone benches of an outdoor theater, watching the plays that 
held a Greek audience enthralled. Tragedies were.seldom 
acted at Rome. Only the lighter comedies, adaptations from 
Greek originals, were really popular there. 

Pantomimes formed the staple amusement of the Roman 
theater. In these performances a single dancer, by move- 
Pantomime uients and gestures, represented mythological 
and vaude- scenes and love stories. The actor took several 
characters in succession, and a chorus accom¬ 
panied him with songs. There were also “vaudeville” enter¬ 
tainments by jugglers, rope-dancers, acrobats, and clowns, 


Roman Amusements 303 

to amuse a people who found no pleasure in the refined pro¬ 
ductions of the Greek stage. 

The “games of the circus” (Circensian games) took place 
at Rome chiefly in the Circus Maximus. Chariot races fur¬ 
nished the principal attraction. Four horses 
were usually harnessed to a chariot, though an ° races 
sometimes the drivers showed their skill by handling as 
many as six or seven horses. The contestants whirled seven 



A Chariot Race 


British Museum, London 

A terracotta relief, showing the spina, or low wall, around which 
the charioteers drove their furious steeds. 

times around the low wall which divided the race course. 
The shortness of the stretches and the sharp turns about the 
wall must have prevented the attainment of great speed. 
A race, nevertheless, was a most exciting sport. What we 
should call “fouling” was permitted and even encouraged. 
The driver might turn his team against another or might 
try to upset a rival’s car. It was a very tame contest that 
did not have its accompaniment of broken chariots, fallen 
horses, and killed or injured drivers. One event followed 
another during the day, until the approach of darkness com¬ 
pelled the spectators to turn homewards. 

The Circus Maximus was often used for a variety of animal 



304 


Roman Life and Thought 

shows. Fierce wild beasts, brought from every quarter of the 
empire, were turned loose to slaughter one another or to 
Animal tear to pieces condemned criminals. There were 
shows also contests between savage animals and men. 

Such amusements did something to satisfy the lust for blood 
in the Roman populace — a lust which was more completely 




From a stucco relief on the tomb of Scaurus, Pompeii. Beginning at the left are two 
fully armed horsemen fighting with lances. Behind them are two gladiators, one of 
whom is appealing to the people. Then follows a combat in which the defeated party 
raises his hand in supplication for mercy. The lower part of the relief represents fights 
with various wild beasts. 


satisfied by the combats of gladiators (Latin gladius , 
“sword”). 

Exhibitions of gladiators probably started from the early 
practice of sacrificing prisoners or slaves at the funeral of 
Gladiatorial their master. The custom then arose of allowing 
shows the victims a chance for their lives by having 

them fight one another, the conquerors being spared for 
future battles. It was only a step from this to keeping 
trained slaves as gladiators. Gladiatorial shows were freely 
given by aspiring politicians who wished to curry favor with 
the populace. The number of such exhibitions increased 





Funeral Ceremonies 


305 


greatly during the imperial age. The emperor Trajan, for 
example, to celebrate his victories over the Dacians (§ 85), 
exhibited no less than ten thousand men within the space 
of four months. 

Roman gladiators were carefully trained in special schools. 
Slaves, captives, and condemned criminals made up the larger 
body of fighters. As the demand increased, even Gladiators 
free citizens hired themselves out for this bloody 
business. The gladiators belonged to various classes, accord¬ 
ing to the defensive armor they wore and the style of fighting 
they employed. Gladiators armed alike never fought one 
another. The fight was man against man and party against 
party. Combatants who showed cowardice or lack of zeal 
were spurred on by whips and hot irons. When a man was 
wounded and unable to continue the struggle, he might 
appeal to the spectators. If he had fought well, the people 
showed their willingness to spare him by waving their hand¬ 
kerchiefs; otherwise, they turned down their thumbs as the 
signal for his deathblow. These hideous exhibitions con¬ 
tinued in different parts of the Roman Empire until the fifth 
century of our era. 

Gladiatorial combats, chariot races, and dramatic shows 
were free performances. They became the chief pleasure of 
life for the lower classes in the Roman city. The « Bread and 
days of their celebration were public holidays, the games of 
which in the fourth century a.d. numbered no the circus ” 
less than one hundred and seventy-five. The once-sovereign 
people of Rome became a lazy, worthless rabble, fed by the 
State and amused with the games. It was well said by an 
ancient author that the Romans wanted only two things to 
make them happy — “bread and the games of the circus.” 

97. Funeral Ceremonies 

The Romans, in spite of their fine climate, their outdoor 
life, and the constant care bestowed upon the body, were sub¬ 
ject to most of the physical ills that afflict mankind. In 


306 


Roman Life and Thought 

sickness they could not rely upon very skillful medical treat¬ 
ment. Ancient doctors lacked the ability of modern practi- 
Sickness and tioners. The healing art was bound up with all 
death sorts of superstitious notions, as in the Orient 

(§ 24). Men were wont to depend on sacrifice to the gods 
and magical incantations far more than on sensible rules of 
diet, fresh air, and exercise. 

If the patient despaired of recovery, he made a will, 
which, among other things, contained directions about the 
care for the funeral ceremonies. These were carried out with 
dead great care, for the Romans, in common with the 

Greeks and other ancient peoples, believed that the soul 
could find peace only after the due disposal of the body in 
the grave. To perform the last rites for the departed was, 
therefore, a solemn religious duty for the surviving members 
of the family. These beliefs continued even after cremation, 
which was more costly than simple burial, came into general 
use. 

A Roman funeral sometimes formed an occasion for much 
pomp and display, especially in the case of a person of wealth 
a Roman or high position. There was a procession, with 
funeral musicians playing a solemn march and a band of 
mourning women who chanted a dirge in praise of the de¬ 
ceased. If he had been a person of note, the procession 
moved to the Forum, where a funeral oration was deliv¬ 
ered in his honor. Burial took place outside the city walls. 
When cremation was practiced, the corpse was burned on 
a funeral pyre. After the fire had done its work, the ashes 
were reverently gathered and placed in a cinerary urn. 

The Romans often erected costly monuments to the dead. 
Elaborate family tombs, large enough for several generations, 
Monuments lined the Appian Way and the other highroads 
to the dead leading out of Rome. There were also immense 
underground structures with small niches in their walls to 
serve as receptables for cinerary urns. The inscriptions on 
the tombs and altars of the dead sometimes throw much 
light on Roman manners and customs. 


Latin Literature 


307 


98. Latin Literature 

The beginnings of Latin literature go back to the middle 
of the third century B.c., when some knowledge of the Greek 
language became increasingly common at Rome Ri se of Latin 
(§ 79). The earlier writers did little original literature 
work. They were satisfied to translate and adapt the pro¬ 
ductions of Greek authors for Roman audiences. 

Cicero is the first Roman prose writer whose works make 
a real claim as literature of a very high quality. He was 
not, indeed, an original thinker. Cicero, how- Cicero 
ever, created a style for Latin prose composi¬ 
tion which has been admired and imitated by literary men 
even to our own day. Latin became in his hands a mag¬ 
nificent instrument for the expression of human thought. 
Cicero’s qualities as an author are perhaps best shown in his 
Orations , of which we still possess more than fifty. The 
numerous Epistles which he wrote to friends and correspond¬ 
ents in all parts of the Roman world are models of what 
good letters ought to be — the expression of the writer’s 
real thoughts and feelings in simple, unstilted phrase. Cicero 
also composed a number of Dialogues , chiefly on philosophical 
themes. Most of them are popularizations of Greek writings. 
If not very profound, they are delightfully written. 

Another great statesman — Julius Caesar — won success 
in literature. As an orator he was admitted by his contempo¬ 
raries to stand second only to Cicero. None of Cffisar 
his speeches have survived. We have, however, 
his invaluable Commentaries on the Gallic and Civil wars. 
These productions, though brief and in most parts rather 
dull, are highly praised for their simple, concise language and 
their mastery of the art of rapid narration. 

Latin poetry begins with Lucretius and Catullus, who lived 
during the last century of the republic. Both were much in¬ 
fluenced by Greek models, but both had an origi- Lucretius and 
nality and power of utterance that gives them Catullus 
real eminence. Lucretius attempted to set forth in verse 



308 Roman Life and Thought 

the Greek philosophy of Epicureanism (§ 62). His great 
poem, On the Nature of Things , is a work of mingled science 
and speculation. It deals with the creation of the world, the 
progress of mankind from savagery to civilization, and the 
nature and fate of the human soul. In spite of the difficulty 


of writing scientific poetry, Lucretius succeeded in compos¬ 
ing a narrative often lighted up with flashes of wonderful 
imaginative power. Catullus died at too early an age to 
reveal fully his genius. Imitating Sappho and other Greek 
lyrical poets (§ 61), Catullus expressed in verse his vary¬ 
ing moods and passions. He was the first to show how 
the Latin language, naturally stiff and reserved, could be 


Bardo Museum, Tunis 

A floor mosaic found in the ruins of a Roman villa near Carthage. It dates from the early 
second century a.d. Virgil is represented seated in an armchair and holding on his knees the 
manuscript of the JEneid. To the left Clio (Muse of history) reads from a roll. To the right 
Melpomene (Muse of tragedy), with a tragic mask in her left hand, leans on the back of 
Virgil’s chair. 


Virgil and the Muses 











Latin Literature 309 

shaped into songs distinguished for melody, tenderness, and 
grace. 

The half century included within the Augustan Age marks 
a real epoch in the history of Latin literature. The most 
famous Roman author of this period was the Virgil 
poet Virgil. The JEneid , which he undertook 
at the suggestion of Augustus, is his best-known work. A 
legend (§ 68) that the Trojan Ameas, seeking a new home 
after the fall of Troy, settled in Italy and became the an¬ 
cestor of the Romans, provided the poet with a fitting sub¬ 
ject. The capture of Troy by the Greeks, the wanderings 
of JEne as until he reaches the Tiber’s mouth, his wars in 
Latium, the winning of his Latian bride, the defeat and 
death of his rival Turnus — such is the poem in outline. 
Virgil made it a story of Roman greatness, a story of the 
growth of Rome, under the fostering care of the gods, from a 
little city to a world-state. Though left unrevised at the au¬ 
thor’s death, the JEneid took rank at once as the only ancient 
epic worthy of comparison with the Iliad or the Odyssey. 

Another member of the Augustan circle was Virgil’s friend 
and fellow-worker, Horace. An imitative poet, Horace re¬ 
produced in Latin verse the forms, and some- _ 

• i r „ . . . Horace 

times even the substance, of his Greek models. 

What he borrowed he made his own by the added beauty 
which he gave to it. His Odes are perhaps the most admirable 
examples of literary art to be found in any language. Horace 
is the poet of the golden mean: accept in contentment the 
gifts the gods provide; do not strive for an impossible 
happiness; a cozy home, good cheer, and kind friends will 
enable you to pass an untroubled existence. His poetry 
thus presents in winning guise the commonplace philosophy 
of the ordinary man. 

The most eminent prose writer of this period was Livy. 
His History of Rome , beginning with Romulus and extending 
to Augustus, traced the rise and development of Livy 
the Roman State during eight triumphal cen¬ 
turies. It did in prose what Virgil’s JEneid did in verse. 


310 


Roman Life and Thought 

Livy’s patriotic enthusiasm, eloquence, and vivid imagina¬ 
tion give him a place by himself among historians, both 
ancient and modern. 

The other great Roman historian is Tacitus, who wrote 
during the period of the “Good Emperors” (§ 85). The 
Tacitus crowning labor of his life was a history of Rome 
(.Histories and Annals) from Tiberius to Domi- 
tian. The bitter hostility which Tacitus had for the imperial 
government often marred his judgment and prevented him 
from writing an impartial history. Moreover, his attention 
is always fixed on the capital city, with its corrupt politics 
and life; he has little to tell about the condition of the 
provinces and the progress of civilizing movements through¬ 
out the Mediterranean world under Roman rule. Tacitus, 
in short, was a great man of letters, a moralist, and a satirist, 
as much as he was an historian. 

Latin authors accomplished much good and valuable work. 
Some of this work is scarcely inferior to the Greek master- 
Survivai of pieces themselves. During the Middle Ages, 
Latin when Greek literature was either neglected or for¬ 

gotten in western Europe, Latin literature was 
still read and enjoyed. It has come down from the Middle 
Ages to us. 

99. Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting 

The Romans achieved preeminence in architecture. The 
temples and other public works of Greece seem almost insig- 
The arch and nificant beside the stupendous edifices raised by 
dome Roman architects in every province of the em¬ 

pire. The ability of the Romans to build on so large a scale 
arose from their use of the arch and the dome. Knowledge 
of the round arch passed over from the Near East to the 
Etruscans and from them to the Romans (§§ 26, 66). The 
arch was employed at first mainly for gates, drainage sewers, 
aqueducts, and bridges. It was used during the imperial 
age for the construction of vast buildings with enormous 


TRIUMPH OF CONSTANTINE IN THE ROMAN FORUM, 312 a.d. 

A reconstruction by J. Biihlmann and Alex, von Wagner. The observer is supposed to be looking down into the Forum from the Capitoline Mount. 
The Colosseum is seen in the distance on the left, and on the right are the Palatine Palaces of the Caesars. The Arch of Septimius Severus is in the 
immediate foreground. 

















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Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting 311 

domes. The principle of the dome has inspired some of the 
finest creations of ancient and modern architecture. 

The Romans for many of their buildings made much use of 
concrete. Its chief ingredient was pozzolana , a sand found in 
great abundance near Rome and elsewhere in Useofcon _ 
Italy. When mixed with lime, it formed a very crete and 
strong cement. This material was poured in a rubble 
fluid state into timber casings, where it quickly set and 
hardened. Small pieces of stone, called rubble, were also 



The Pantheon 

The original structure on the site was erected in 27 b.c. by Agrippa, the son-in-law and 
minister of Augustus, as a temple for the worship of several divinities. The present struc¬ 
ture is mainly of the time of Hadrian, who built the rotunda and the great dome of solid 
concrete. This dome is almost exactly a half-sphere, of the same height as the rotunda on 
which it rests. The gilded bronze tiles once covering it have been replaced by a roof of 
lead. A circular opening at the top of the dome throws a flood of light into the interior. 
The Greek portico, with sixteen granite Corinthian columns, seems to have been added in 
the time of Antoninus Pius; it still carries Agrippa’s old inscription. The remarkable 
preservation of the Pantheon is due to its use, from the seventh century, as a Christian 
church. It is now the burial place of the kings of Italy. 

forced down into the cement to give it additional stability. 
Buildings of this sort were usually faced with brick, which 
in turn might be covered with thin slabs of marble, thus 
producing an attractive appearance. 

The triumphs of Roman architecture were not confined 
chiefly to sacred edifices. Roman temples, indeed, are mostly 







312 


Roman Life and Thought 


Temples 



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Basilicas 


copies from the Greek. In comparison with their originals, 
they lack grace and refinement. The florid Corinthian and 
Composite replace the purer Doric and Ionic 
orders. There is less accuracy in the masonry 
fitting and far less careful attention to details of construc¬ 
tion. A frequent departure from Greek models is found in 
the restriction of the rows of pillars to the front of the build¬ 
ing, while the sides and rear are lined with “engaged” 
columns to give the idea of a colonnade. More character¬ 
istically Roman are vaulted temples, such as the Pantheon, 

where the circular dome is 
faced with a Greek portico. 

Roman basilicas, of which 
only the ruins are now in 
existence, were 
once found in 
every city. These were 
large, lofty buildings for 
the use of judges and mer¬ 
chants. The chief feature 
of a basilica was the spa¬ 
cious central hall flanked 
by a single or double row of columns, forming aisles and 
supporting the flat roof. At one end was a semicircular re¬ 
cess— the apse — where the judges held court. This ar¬ 
rangement of the interior of a basilica was reproduced in the- 
plan of the early Christian church, with its nave, choir, or 
chancel, and columned aisles (§ 102). 

Perhaps the most imposing, and certainly among the most 
useful, of Roman structures were the aqueducts. There 
were sixty-eight in Italy and the provinces. No- 
less than fourteen supplied the capital city with 
water. The aqueducts usually ran under the surface of the 
ground, as do our water pipes. They were carried on arches 
only across depressions and valleys. These monuments were 
intended simply as engineering works, but their heavy masses, 
of rough masonry produce an inspiring sense of power. 


Plan of the Basilica Ulpia, Rome 

The hall measured 360 feet in length and 
180 feet in width. The nave was flanked on 
each side by two aisles, with Corinthian pillars. 
There were a timber roof and a ceiling of paneled 
wood. 


Aqueducts 





Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting 313 

The abundant water supply furnished by the aqueducts 
was connected with a system of great public baths. Scarcely 
a town or village throughout the empire lacked „ , , 

one or more such buildings. 1 hose at Rome were 
constructed on a scale of magnificence of which we can form 
but a slight conception from the ruins now in existence. In 
addition to many elaborate arrangements for the bathers, 
the baths included lounging and reading rooms, libraries, 
gymnasiums, and even museums and galleries of art. They 



A Roman Aqueduct 


The Pont du Gard near Nlmes (ancient Nemausus ) in southern France. It was built in the 
late first century b.c. or early first century a.d. The bridge over the river Gard spans two 
hill-tops nearly a thousand feet apart. It carries an aqueduct with three tiers of mas¬ 
sive stone arches at a height of 160 feet above the stream. This is the finest and best- 
preserved of Roman aqueducts. 

were splendid clubhouses, open at little or no expense to 
every citizen of the metropolis. 

Rome, Italy, and the former provinces contain many fine 
examples of triumphal arches. They are of two types, one 
with a single great arch between massive piers Triumphal 
and the other with three arches, the central one arches and 
being the largest. The sides of these monuments columns 
were adorned with bas-reliefs, setting forth the principal 







314 


Roman Life and Thought 

scenes of a successful campaign. Memorial structures, called 
columns of victory, were also set up in Rome and other cities. 
Both arch and column have been frequently imitated by 
modern architects. 

The palaces of Roman emperors and nobles, together with 
their luxurious country houses, or villas, have all disappeared, 
circuses A like fate has befallen the enormous circuses, 
theaters, and such as the Circus Maximus at Rome and the 
amphitheaters Hippodrome at Constantinople. The Roman 
theaters that still survive reproduce, in most respects, the 



Arch of Constantine 


Erected at Rome in 315 to celebrate the victory of Constantine over his rival, Maxen- 
tius. It consists of a central gateway and two smaller arches flanked by detached columns 
in the Corinthian style. There are four large statues in front of the upper story and numer¬ 
ous sculptures in relief. 


familiar outlines of the Greek structures. In the amphi¬ 
theaters, where animal shows and gladiatorial combats were 
exhibited, we have a genuinely Roman invention. The 
Flavian Amphitheater at Rome — the so-called Colosseum 1 
as truly typifies Roman architectural genius as the Par¬ 
thenon represents at its best that of the Greeks. 

1 See the plate facing page 271. 








The Site of Rome 

The massive wall which surrounded Rome in republican times seems to have been built during the fourth century b.c. after the 
wars with the Gauls. It doubtless incorporated portions of an earlier fortification attributed to Servius Tullius, the sixth king of Rome, 
and hence known as the “Servian Wall.” It was over seven miles in length. The four divisions of republican Rome are indicated by 
broken lines on the map. 


Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting 315 











316 


Roman Life and Thought 


Sculpture 


Roman sculpture owed much to Greek models. However, 
the portrait statues and bas-reliefs show originality and 
illustrate the tendency of the Romans toward 
realism in art. The sculptor tried to represent 
an historic person as he really looked or an historic event, 
for example, a battle or a triumphal procession as it actually 
happened. The portrait statues of Roman emperors and 
. statesmen and the bas-reliefs 

on the triumphal arches and 
columns impress us at once 
with a sense of reality. 

Our knowledge of Roman 
painting is almost wholly con- 
waii fined to the wall 

paintings paintings found at 

Rome, Herculaneum, and 
Pompeii. What has survived 
is apparently the work of or¬ 
dinary craftsmen, who, if not 
Greeks, were deeply affected 
by the Greek spirit. Most of 
the scenes they depict are 
taken from classical mythol¬ 
ogy. These bright, gay paint¬ 
ings must have added much 
to the attractiveness of an ancient house. The practice of 
mural painting passed over from the Romans to European 
artists, who have employed it in the frescoes of medieval and 
modern churches. 

Mosaic work was first practiced in the Near East, especi¬ 
ally in Egypt under the Ptolemies. The art spread to the 
West in Roman times, where mosaic pictures, 
made with tiny cubes of colored marble or glass, 
formed a common decoration for walls and pavements. It is 
still another art which modern craftsmen have learned from 
the ancients without excelling them. 

The inheritance we have received from the Romans is 



A Girl with Stylus and 
Tablets 

National Museum, Naples 

A wall painting from Herculaneum, 
showing a handsome girl with a stylus in 
her right hand and a set of wooden tablets 
in her left. 


Mosaics 


Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting 317 

of a practical sort, for they excelled as warriors, lawgivers, 
and administrators. One of their own poets (Virgil) recog¬ 
nized this fact and expressed it in famous lines: The Roman 
“Others, I doubt not, shall beat out the,breath- s enius 
ing bronze with softer lines; shall from marble draw forth 
the features of life; shall plead their causes better; with the 
rod shall trace the paths of heaven and tell the rising of the 
stars: remember thou, O Roman, to rule the nations with 
thy sway — these shall be thine arts — to crown Peace with 
Law, to spare the humbled, and to tame in war the proud.” 


For Explanation 


stylus 

Circus Maximus 

Ovid 

abacus 

pantomimes 

Livy 

rhetoric 

gladiator 

Tacitus 

toga 

Caesar’s Commentaries 

basilica 

atrium 

Lucretius 

aqueduct 

peristyle 

Virgil 

Colosseum 

symposium 

^Eneid 

amphitheater 

Circensian games 

Horace 

mosaic 


For Discussion 



1. Show how Greek culture affected the Roman educational system. 

2. Why is Roman literature generally considered to be inferior to Greek 
literature? Which was the more original? 

3. “The dome, with the round arch out of which it sprang, is the most 
fertile conception in the whole history of building.” Justify this 
statement. 

4. What famous examples of domed churches and public buildings are 
familiar to you? 

5. Mention some modern examples of triumphal arches and columns of 
victory. 

6. Comment on the realistic quality of Roman portrait sculpture. 

For Further Study 

1. Study the ground plan of a Pompeian house (page 299) and explain its 
interior arrangements. 

2. Write a letter describing an imaginary visit to the Circus Maximus 
during a celebration of the games. 


318 


Roman Life and Thought 

3. Read in Bulwer-Lytton’s The Last Days of Pompeii (bk. v, chap, ii) 
the description of gladiatorial games. 

4. Prepare an oral report on Maecenas as a wealthy patron of the arts and 
literature. 

5. Read Tennyson’s poem, To Virgil. How does it appreciate Virgil’s 
genius? 

6. Prepare an oral report on Marcus Aurelius as an author, with a few 
quotations from his book of Meditations. 

7. Give some account of the Pantheon, the Flavian Amphitheater, the 
Arch of Titus, the Column of Trajan, and the Baths of Caracalla. 

8. Compose an essay (500 words) describing an imaginary walk in Rome 
at the time of Constantine the Great. 

9. Read in Milton’s Paradise Regained (bk. iv, 11. 44-85) the description 
of ancient Rome. 


Supplementary 

Webster, Readings in Early European History , chapter xxi, “Roman Life as 
Seen in Pliny’s Letters chapter xxii, “A Satirist of Roman Society. ” 



A Litter 


The litter consists of an ordinary couch with four 
posts and a pair of poles. Curtains fastened to 
the rod above the canopy shielded the occupant 
from observation. 





Part V 

THE TRANSITION FROM CLASSICAL 
CIVILIZATION 

(Chapters XIII-XIV) 


The Roman Empire for a long time gave to much of the ancient 
world a degree of peace and material prosperity such as had never 
been known before, at any rate in Europe. The inhabitants of 
the empire did not try to overthrow it or to withdraw from its 
protection. They believed that it would endure forever — 
“Eternal Rome.” But the Roman Empire was not eternal. It 
grew weaker, as it grew older, and offered less and less resistance 
to the barbarians encroaching on the frontiers. Meanwhile, there 
was a slow and gradual decay of classical civilization, which, like 
an overtrained athlete, had grown “stale.” Progressive forces 
were at work, however, transforming society and gradually building 
up the civilization that is called medieval. One force was Chris¬ 
tianity. The new religion appeared out of the Near East, spread 
rapidly over the Mediterranean world, became during the fourth 
century the prevailing faith of Orientals, Greeks, and Romans, and 
introduced everywhere a new way of life opposed in many respects 
to the old paganism. How Christianity triumphed is told in 
Chapter XIII. 

The Germanic peoples were the other force which operated to 
make over society into something different and at length some¬ 
thing better than what it was before. While the Roman Empire 
was being Christianized, the Germans broke through the frontiers 
and began their invasions and settlements. By the close of the 
fifth century the imperial provinces in the West were almost wholly 
occupied by them. The Roman Empire had now been dismem¬ 
bered, and barbarian kingdoms, destined to become the national 
states of western Europe, had been formed in one country after 
another. This period of the “wandering of the nations” is de¬ 
scribed in Chapter XIV. 



CHAPTER XIII 


CHRISTIANITY 

The visible Church was as truly a creation of the Roman spirit as was 
the Empire itself. Rome had seized upon the teaching of One who had 
lived in poverty and obscurity among slaves and outcasts, who preached 
against worldliness, formality, and ambition, who sent out His disciples 
to beg their way, and out of this, with her wonderful genius for government, 
she had created a powerful monarchy which could humble kings, and an 
organized ecclesiastical state which spread like a network over the earth 
and tamed the fury of the barbarians. 

—J. C. Stobart 

100. Preparation for Christianity 

Long before the rise of Christianity some Greek thinkers 
began to feel dissatisfied with the old religion that had 
come down to them from their forefathers. They Decline of 
could no longer believe in the Olympian deities, paganism 
who were fashioned like themselves and who ( 191 192 ) 
possessed all the faults of mortal men and women. Educated 
Romans also became skeptical about the gods, the myths, 
and the ceremonies of paganism. Even the worship of 
the emperors (§85), which spread throughout the Roman 
world and helped to hold it together, failed to satisfy the 
spiritual wants of mankind. It made no appeal to the moral 
nature; it brought no message, either of fear or hope, about 
a future life. Men turned elsewhere for spiritual joy and 
consolation. 

The system of Greek philosophy, called Stoicism (§ 62), 
gained many followers among the Romans. Any one who 
will read Stoic writings, such as those of the stoicism 
noble emperor Marcus Aurelius, will find in ( 173 - 174 ) 
them some resemblances to Christian teachings. Stoicism 
urged men to forgive injuries — to “bear and forbear.” It 

321 


322 Christianity 

emphasized human brotherhood. It expressed a humble and 
unfaltering reliance on a divine Providence. Stoic philoso¬ 
phy, however, influenced chiefly the educated classes; it could 
not become a religion for all sorts and conditions of men. 

Many Greeks found a partial satisfaction of their religious 
longings in secret rites known as “mysteries.” The most 
The Eieusin- important of these grew up at Eleusis, 1 a little 
ian mysteries Attic town a few miles from Athens. They were 
connected with the worship of Demeter, goddess of vegetation 
and of the life of nature. The celebration of the Eleusinian 
mysteries came in September and lasted nine days. When 
the candidates for admission to the secret rites were worked 
up to a state of religious excitement, they entered a brilliantly 
lighted hall and witnessed a dramatic performance dealing 
with the legend of Demeter. They seem to have received no 
direct moral instruction but saw, instead, living pictures and 
pantomimes which represented the future life and held out 
to them the promise of a blessed lot in another world. As an 
Athenian orator said, “Those who have shared this initiation 
possess sweeter hopes about death and about the whole of life. ,, 

The Eleusinian mysteries, though unknown in Homeric 
times, were already popular before the epoch of the Persian 
influence of wars. They became a Panhellenic festival open 
the mysteries £ 0 a q Greeks, women as well as men, slaves as 
well as freemen. The privilege of membership was later 
extended to Romans. During the first centuries of our era 
the influence of the mysteries increased, as faith in the 
Olympian religion declined. They formed one of the last 
strongholds of paganism and survived until the close of the 
fourth century of our era. 

The Asiatic conquests of Alexander, followed in later cen¬ 
turies by the extension of Roman rule over the eastern coasts 
oriental reii- the Mediterranean, brought the classical 
gionsintheRo- peoples into contact with new religions which had 
man Empire ar j sen j n ^ N ear East. Slaves, soldiers, traders, 
and travelers carried them to the West, where they speedily 
1 See the map, page 139. 


Preparation for Christianity 323 

won many followers. Even before the downfall of the re¬ 
public the deities of Asia Minor, Egypt, and Persia had 
found a home at 
Rome. Under the 
empire many men 
and women were 
attracted to their 
worship. 

Perhaps the most 
remarkable of the 
Orien- . 

, . .. Mithraism 

tal reli¬ 
gions was Mithraism. 

Mithras first ap¬ 
pears as a Persian 
god of light, the 
leader of Ahura 
Mazda’s hosts in 
the ceaseless strug¬ 
gle against the 
forces of darkness 
and evil (§ 24). He was often represented as a youthful 
hero miraculously born from a rock at the dawn of day; for 
this reason his worship was always conducted underground 
in natural or artificial caves, or in cellars. Mithras also be¬ 
came a god of truth and purity, who cleansed the sinner, 
conquered death, and procured for his faithful followers the 
crown of immortality. His worship spread far and wide in 
the Roman Empire during the first three centuries of our 
era, especially among the soldiers, who were attracted by 
its emphasis on all manly virtues. 

The new Oriental religions all appealed to the emotions 
as paganism had never done. They provided an attractive 
ritual and they held out the hope of a blessed significance 
existence beyond the grave. It is not strange, oftheprien- 
therefore, that they penetrated every Roman talrell s lons 
province, only disappearing with the triumph of Christianity. 



A Mithraic Monument 

British Museum, London 

Mithras, a youthful figure with a Phrygian cap on his head, 
is represented sacrificing a bull. 




324 


Christianity 


101 . Rise and Spread of Christianity 

Christianity arose among the Jews, for Jesus was a Jew and 
his disciples were Jews. It was not to be, as was ancient 
Christianity Judaism, solely a national faith, confined to a 

and Judaism Chosen People and centered in a Holy City. 

Christianity, almost from the start, exhibited itself as a 
universal religion. It spread throughout the Roman Empire 
at the same time that its Oriental rivals were winning their 
greatest successes there. 

The Jews, in the time of Jesus, were Roman subjects. The 
whole of Syria, with Palestine included in it, had formed a 
The jews part °f the Roman dominions ever since Pom- 

under the pey’s campaigns in the Near East (§ 81). The 

Romans for a while allowed a native king, Herod, 
to rule for them in Palestine. After his death in 4 B.c. the 
emperor Augustus divided the Jewish realm among his 
three sons. One of them, Herod Archelaiis, ruled so badly 
that the emperor removed him in less than ten years and 
converted his territory of Judaea into a regular province 
under Roman officials called procurators. Pontius Pilatus 
(Pilate), the fifth of these procurators, governed Judaea 
during the period of Jesus’ ministry. 

The birth of Jesus, according to the New Testament, took 
place during Herod’s reign, in the little Judaean village of 
jesus of Bethlehem. He spent the greater part of his 
Nazareth short life in another Jewish village, that of Naza¬ 
reth in Galilee. When about thirty years of age, 
he began to preach and teach, first in Galilee and the sur¬ 
rounding regions, and then in Judaea. The ministry of Jesus 
seems to have lasted nearly three years. His crucifixion 
occurred at Jerusalem under Pilate, probably in 29 or 30 a.d. 
Tiberius was then emperor at Rome. 

Jesus had attracted a group of disciples, who kept him 
company and went about with him from place to place. 
They included an inner circle of apostles (missioners), whom 
he selected to carry the gospel tidings. All of the Twelve 



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THE CHRISTIAN MARTYI 

After the painting by J. L. Gerome 

























































































326 Christianity 

Apostles belonged to the common people; for instance, Peter 
and John were fishermen and Matthew was a tax collector. 
The Twelve The crucifixion of Jesus struck them with sor- 
Aposties (203) row an d dismay. When, however, the apostles 
came to believe in the resurrection of their master they were 
fired with new devotion and enthusiasm. They now asserted 
that Jesus was not only a great prophet, the true Messiah, 
or Christ, whose coming had been foretold in the Jewish 
scriptures; he was indeed a divine being, Son of Man and 
Son of God, who had been raised from the dead and taken up 
into heaven. 

The apostles remained in Jerusalem for several years after 
the crucifixion, preaching and making converts. They met 
Christianity so muc h opposition on the part of Jewish leaders 
among the in the capital that they finally withdrew to Sa- 
Jews maria, Damascus, and Antioch. There were 

large Jewish communities in these places, among which Peter 
and his fellow apostles labored zealously. 

A new convert, Saul of Tarsus, afterward the Apostle 
Paul, did most to admit the Gentiles, or non-Jews, to the 
Missionary privileges of the new religion. Though born a 
labors of Paul Jew, Paul had been trained in the schools of 
Tarsus, a city of southern Asia Minor which was 
a center of Greek learning. He possessed a knowledge of 
Greek philosophy, particularly of Stoicism. This broad edu¬ 
cation helped to make him an acceptable missionary to 
Greek-speaking peoples. During more than thirty years of 
unceasing activity he established churches in Asia Minor, 
Greece, Macedonia, and Italy. 1 He wrote to many of these 
churches the Epistles (letters) which have found a place in 
the New Testament. Paul was an acute thinker, as well as 
a man of deep spiritual insight, and the doctrines found in 
his writings have exercised a very great influence on Christian 
theology. 

Christianity advanced rapidly over the Roman world. 2 
There were Christian communities in Palestine, Cyprus, Asia 
1 See the map, page 325. 2 See the map, page 329. 


Rise and Spread of Christianity 


327 


Minor, the Balkan peninsula, and Italy by the close of the 
first century. The second and third centuries saw the es¬ 
tablishment of churches in almost every prov- Christianity 
ince of the empire. “We are but of yester- among the 
day,” says a Christian writer, with pardonable Gentlles 
exaggeration, “yet we have filled all your places of resort — 
cities, islands, fortresses, towns, markets, the camp itself, 

the tribes, town councils, 

, ,, , esmrnrn 

the palace, the senate, - 

and the forum. We have 
left to you only the temples 
of your gods.” 

Certain circumstances 
contributed to the success 
of this great missionary en¬ 
terprise. Alex- „ . 

C Conditions 

•Under S con- favoring the 

quests in the ®P re . ad of .. 

A , , ,, Christianity 

East and those 
of Rome in the West had 
done much to remove the 
barriers to intercourse be¬ 
tween different peoples. 

The spread of Greek and 



The Antioch Chalice 


In 1910 Arabs at Antioch in Syria excavated 
Latin as the common lan- a silver chalice, about eight inches in height, 
guages Of the Mediterra- ' vhich seems to date from the fourth century of 
•o o , our era. It probably formed a part of church 

nean region furnished a treasure. The illustration above shows Christ 

medium in which Christian t ^ e p Sav , i0 , r . ( “f er) ’ with st ' Peter (left) and 

speakers and writers could ( 

be easily understood. The early missionaries, including Paul 
himself, were often Roman citizens, who enjoyed the pro¬ 
tection of the Roman law and profited by the ease of travel 
which the imperial rule had made possible. Moreover, the 
destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 a.d. (§ 85) 
and the subsequent exile of the Jews from Palestine scattered 
the Chosen People throughout the Roman Empire, where 
they familiarized the pagans with Jewish ideals of mono- 





328 Christianity 

theism and moral purity and with Jewish hopes for a Messiah, 
thus preparing the way for Christianity. At no other period 
in ancient history were conditions so favorable for the rapid 
spread of a new religion. 

102. Development of the Christian Church 

While Christianity was spreading throughout the Roman 
world its adherents were grouping themselves into churches. 

They met, not in syna¬ 
gogues, as did the Jews, but 
churches in private houses, 

( 2 ° 8 ) where they sang 

hymns, listened to readings 
from the Holy Scriptures, 
and partook of a sacrificial 
meal in memory of the last 
supper of Jesus with the 
Twelve Apostles. This was 
known as the Lord’s Supper, 
or the Eucharist. Certain 
officers, called presbyters or 
priests (from a Greek word 
meaning “elders”), were 
chosen to conduct the serv¬ 
ices and instruct the con¬ 
verts. The chief priest 
received the name of bishop, which also comes from a Greek 
word ( episkopos ) meaning an “overseer” or “guardian.” 
There were also deacons, who visited the sick and relieved 
the wants of the poor. Every Christian community thus 
formed a little brotherhood of earnest men and women, 
united by common beliefs and common hopes. 

The increase in the number of converts and the multiplica¬ 
tion of churches led in time to a more elaborate organization, 
with the bishops of the chief cities as the principal officers. 
The bishops kept in touch with one another by visits and 



The Good Shepherd and the 
Sheep 


A wall painting in the catacombs of St. Cal- 
lixtus, Rome. Outside the circle are symbolic 
figures of birds and fish and representations of 
angels. 








































































330 


Christianity 


The clergy 


letters and together formed a governing board for all the 
churches in a given district or province. An archbishop 
The episco- presided over the bishops. The highest ecclesias- 
pate (210) tical dignity was that of patriarch, a title applied 
to the bishops of the great cities of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alex¬ 
andria, Constantinople, and Rome. 1 This rule of bishops — 
the episcopate — was well established by the third century. 

Patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, priests, and deacons were 

drawn from all ranks of 
society. No special train¬ 
ing at first was 
considered nec¬ 
essary to fit them for their 
duties, though the more 
celebrated ministers were 
often highly educated. 
Priests and bishops were 
for a long time permitted 
to marry, but during the 
early Middle Ages clerical 
celibacy became the rule 
in the West. Special gar¬ 
ments for priests and 
bishops did not begin to 
come into use until the fifth 
century, when some of them began to don clothing of a 
more sober hue than was fashionable at the time. Clerical 
vestments were developed from two pieces of ancient Roman 
dress — the tunic and the toga. 

In proportion as Christianity became the religion of the 
rich and powerful as well as the religion of the poor and lowly, 
more attention was devoted to church ceremonies. 
Magnificent church buildings were sometimes 
erected. Their architects seem to have followed as models 
the basilicas, or courthouses, which formed so familiar a sight 
in Roman cities (§ 99). Church interiors were adorned with 
1 See the map between pages 426-427. 



Religious Music 

From a window of the cathedral of Bourges, 
a city in central France. Shows a pipe organ 
and chimes. 


Worship 









Development of the Christian Church 331 

paintings, mosaic pictures, images of saints and martyrs, 
and the figure of the cross. Lighted candles on the altars 
and the burning of fragrant incense lent an additional im¬ 
pressiveness to worship. Beautiful prayers and hymns were 
composed. Organs did not come into use until the seventh 
century, and then only in the West, but church bells, sum¬ 
moning the worshiper to divine service, early became at¬ 
tached to Christian edifices. 

The early Christians observed “the first day of the week” 
in memory of Christ’s resurrection. They attended public 
worship on the Lord’s Day, but otherwise did The « Chris _ 
not rigidly abstain from worldly business and tianYear” 
amusements. During the fourth century, Sun- ^ 209 ^ 
day, as the Lord’s Day was now generally called, came more 
and more to be kept as a day of obligatory rest. Sunday, 
like the Jewish Sabbath on the seventh day. of the week 
(§ 23), was thus dedicated wholly to the exercises of re¬ 
ligion. The great Christian festivals also took shape during 
the early centuries of our era. The most important an¬ 
niversary to be observed was Easter. A period of fasting 
(Lent), which finally lasted forty days, preceded the festival. 
Two other festivals of later adoption were Christmas, the 
celebration of which was assigned to the 25th of Decem¬ 
ber, and Epiphany (January 6), commemorating the bap¬ 
tism of Christ. Many other feasts and fasts, together with 
numerous saints’ days, were afterward added to the calendar 
of the “Christian Year.” 

The different local churches maintained friendly relations 
with one another, in order to preserve a united front against 
the forces of paganism. They thus came to re- The Church 
gard themselves as members of a larger whole — 
the Church — which included all Christian believers through¬ 
out the world. To this Church the name Catholic, that is, 
“Universal,” was applied. It appeared, henceforth, as a 
great and powerful organization, with fixed laws, with a 
graded series of officers, and with councils or gatherings at 
which the clergy discussed the affairs of their particular 


332 Christianity 

localities. With it the Roman government engaged in the 
long struggle known as the Persecutions. 



103 . The Persecutions 

The new religion from the start met popular disapproval. 
The early Christians, who tried to keep themselves free 
from idolatry, were regarded as 
very unsociable persons. They 
never appeared at pub¬ 
lic feasts and entertain¬ 
ments. They would 
not join in the amuse¬ 
ments of the circus or the am¬ 
phitheater. They refused to send 
their children to the schools. The 
ordinary citizen could not under¬ 
stand such people. It is not sur¬ 
prising, therefore, that they gained 
the evil name of “haters of man¬ 
kind.” 

The Christians were feared, as 
well as despised. Strange stories 
Superstitious circulated about their 
fear of the sacrificial meal, at 
Christians w hich they were ac¬ 
cused of feasting on children. 
Sometimes they were thought to 
be magicians, who caused all sorts of disasters. It was not 
difficult, therefore, to excite the vicious crowds of the large 
cities to riots and disorders in which many followers of the 
new religion suffered wounds and death. As a Christian 
writer said, “If the Tiber rises, if the Nile does not rise, if 
the heavens give no rain, if there is an earthquake, famine, 
or pestilence, straightway the cry is, ‘The Christians to the 
lion.’” 

Such outbursts of mob hatred were only occasional. There 



Christian Mosaic 

Represents St. Felicitas and 
St. Perpetua, who were thrown to 
the wild beasts in the amphitheater 
of Carthage in 203. A cross has 
been set up there commemorating 
their martyrdom. 





The Persecutions 


333 


would have been no organized, persistent attack if the im¬ 
perial government had not taken a hand. Rome, Antagonism 
which had treated so many other foreign faiths ? f the 
with careless indifference or even with favor, eTnment S ° V 
which had tolerated the Jews and granted to (227-228) 
them special privileges of worship, made a deliberate effort 
to crush Christianity. 

Rome entered on the Persecutions because Christianity 
seemed to imperil the existence of the State. The Christians 
declined to support the official religion; they Attitude of 
even condemned it unsparingly as sinful and the Christians 

r o j toward 

idolatrous. This attitude of “atheism” seemed paganism 
sacrilegious to the Romans, who thought that (223-224) 
the safety of society depended on the faithful service of 
their deities. The Christians, moreover, would not worship 
the genius (guardian spirit) of the emperor and would not 
burn incense before his statue, which stood in every town. 
To do so would have been an acknowledgment of the di¬ 
vinity of the emperor — something impossible for Chris¬ 
tians. Such a refusal to take what was really an oath of 
allegiance was felt to be an act of rebellion. Antagonism 
toward the Christians was increased by their unwillingness 
to serve in the army and to swear by the pagan gods in 
courts of law. Naturally, they were outlawed, and from time 
to time were subjected to repressive legislation in various 
parts of the Roman world. 

The persecution beginning under Diocletian (§ 86) was 
the last and most severe. It continued, with some interrup¬ 
tions, for eight years. Only Gaul and Britain Diocletian’s 
seem to have escaped its ravages. The govern- persecution 
ment began by burning the holy books of the Christians, by 
destroying their churches, and by taking away their property. 
Members of the hated faith lost their privileges as full Ro¬ 
man citizens. Then sterner measures followed. The prisons 
were crowded with Christians. Those who refused to recant 
and sacrifice to the emperor were thrown to wild animals in 
the arena, stretched on the rack, or burned over a slow fire. 


334 Christianity 

Every refinement of torture was practiced. Paganism, fight¬ 
ing for its existence, left no means untried to root out a sect 
both despised and feared. 

The Christians joyfully suffered for their religion. They 
welcomed the torture and death which would gain for them 
a heavenly crown. Those who perished were 

The martyrs ^ **■ 

called martyrs, that is, “witnesses.” Even now 
the festal day of a martyr is the day of his death. 

104 . Triumph of Christianity 

Diocletian’s persecution came to an end in 311. In 
that year Galerius, the ruler in the East, published an edict 
which permitted the Christians to re¬ 
build their churches and worship un- 
„, . . . disturbed. It remained for 

Christianity . 

a tolerated Constantine to take the 
asaf 00 '^ 31 ’ next significant step. In 
313 the emperor and his 
colleague on the throne issued the 
so-called “Edict of Milan,” which 
proclaimed for the first time in history 
the noble principle of religious tolera¬ 
tion. It gave absolute freedom to 
every man to choose and follow the 
religion which he deemed best suited 
to his needs. This edict placed the 
Christian faith on an equality with 
paganism. 

Constantine himself accepted Chris¬ 
tianity and favored its followers throughout his reign. He 
surrounded himself with Christian bishops, freed the clergy 
Constantine from taxation, and spent large sums in building 
and the churches. One of his laws abolished the use of 
Christians cross as an instrument of punishment. An¬ 

other enactment required courts of justice and workshops 
to be closed on the “venerable day of the Sun” and city 



Coin of Constantine 
the Great 


Shows the sacred military 
standard ( labarum ), which 
was adopted by Constantine 
and carried by later Christian 
Roman emperors. It con¬ 
sisted of a staff or lance with a 
purple banner on a crossbar 
surmounted by the monogram 
of Christ. 


335 


Triumph of Christianity 

people (though not country people) to rest on that day. This 
was the beginning of a long series of “Sunday laws” from 
the fourth century to the present time. 

Significant of the emperor’s attitude toward Christianity 
was his summoning the bishops in the different prov¬ 
inces to a gathering at Nicaea in Asia Minor. Church Coun _ 
More than three hundred bishops, or priests dele- cii at Nicaea, 
gated by bishops, came to this assembly from 325 ( ^ 216 ' ) 
nearly all parts of the Roman world. It was the first general 
council of the Church. The principal work of the Council 
of Nicsea was the settlement of a great dispute which had 
arisen over the nature of Christ. Some theologians, headed 
by Arius, a priest of Alexandria, maintained that Christ the 
Son, having been created by God the Father, was necessarily 
inferior to him. Athanasius, another Alexandrian theolo¬ 
gian, opposed this view and held that Christ was not a 
created being, but was in all ways equal to God. The 
council accepted the arguments of Athanasius, condemned 
Arius as a heretic, and framed the Creed of Nicaea, which, as 
modified by later councils, is still the accepted summary of 
Christian doctrine. Though thrust out of the Church, 
Arianism lived to flourish anew among the Germanic bar¬ 
barians, the majority of whom were converted to Christi¬ 
anity by Arian missionaries. 

The recognition given to Christianity by Constantine 
helped immensely to spread the new faith. The emperor 
Theodosius I (§86), whose services to the Christianity 
Church won him the title of “the Great,” made the statereu- 
Christianity the State religion. Sacrifices to the glon 
pagan gods were forbidden, the temples were closed, and 
their property was taken away. Those strongholds of the 
old paganism, the Delphic oracle, the Olympic games, and 
the Eleusinian mysteries, were abolished. The ancient 
worship of ancestors (§ 70) was also prohibited. The house¬ 
hold beliefs and ceremonies survived for a long time afterward, 
especially in country districts, but paganism as a recognized 
religion disappeared by the end of the fourth century. 


336 Christianity- 

105. Christian Influence on Pagan Society 

Christianity, which taught men to love God, taught them 
also to love their neighbors. It condemned the very common 
practice of suicide, as well as the frightful evil of infanticide. 
It set its face against all forms of cruelty, such as the gladia¬ 
torial combats, in which 
slaves, captives, and crimi- 

Moral teach- nals were com- 
ings of Chris- pelled to fight 

tmmty with one another 

and kill one another for the 
amusement of the specta¬ 
tors. It denounced, unspar¬ 
ingly, the luxury and vice 
of the great cities. In 
general, Christianity did 
much to soften and refine 
manners by the stress which 
it laid upon the “Christian” 
virtues of humility, tender¬ 
ness, and mercy. 

The Christian belief in 
the fatherhood of God im- 

Social teach- P lied a corr e- 

ings of sponding belief 

Christianity ^ ^ brother _ 

hood of man. This doctrine 
of human equality had been 
expressed many times by ancient philosophers, but Chris¬ 
tianity translated their precepts into practice. It sought 
to improve the condition of the slave by requiring his master 
to treat him as a brother, and it opened the offices and digni¬ 
ties of the Church to both alike. It declared that free and 
unfree were equal in God’s sight, and by encouraging emanci¬ 
pation it even helped to decrease slavery. Christianity, 
whose founder had worked as a carpenter, naturally em- 



Christian Tombstone from Spain 


A fourth-century monument on which appear 
the Greek letters XP (CHR), making a mono¬ 
gram of the word Christ (Greek Christos). 
Alpha (a) and omega (c*j), the first and last 
letters of the Greek alphabet, are also shown, in 
allusion to Revelation, i, 8, 11; xxi, 6; xxii, 13. 



337 


Christian Influence on Pagan Society 

phasized the dignity of manual toil. For Christians idleness, 
not work, was the real disgrace: “to labor is to pray” 
became a Christian motto. The new religion laid much stress 
on benevolence as a duty and therefore supported all institu¬ 
tions to relieve the poor, the sick, and the downtrodden. 
It also elevated the position of women, by making marriage 
a religious sacrament, instead of a mere civil contract, by 
opposing divorce, and by insisting upon purity of life for 
both men and women. Christianity, we see, was not simply 
a set of beliefs, or a system of church organization, or a 
beautiful and impressive ritual of worship. The new religion, 
from the start, became a mighty influence for the betterment 
of mankind. 

At the close of the fourth century the Germanic tribes 
living nearest the frontiers had been visited by missionaries 
and had become converts to Christianity. The Christianity 
very fact that both Romans and barbarians were and the 
Christians tended to lessen the terrors of the in- barbanans 
vasions and to bring about a peaceful mingling of the con¬ 
querors and the conquered. 

For Explanation 

Galilee 
Judaea 
Messiah 
Gentiles 
Saul of Tarsus 
deacon* 
presbyter 
bishop 

For Discussion 

1. What is meant by calling the early Christian Church an episcopal 
organization? 

2. In what divisions of the Christian Church to-day is the episcopal 
organization retained? 

3. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” Explain this 
statement. 


paganism 
emperor worship 
Eleusinian mysteries 
Demeter 
Mithraism 
Judaism 
Chosen People 
Pontius Pilatus 


episcopate 
Lord’s Day 
Epiphany 
martyr 

Edict of Galerius 
Edict of Milan 
Council of Nicaea 
Creed of Nicaea 


338 Christianity 

4. Why was Christianity persecuted by the Roman government? Why 
did the persecutions fail? 

5. What reasons may be given for the conversion of the Mediterranean 
world to Christianity? 

6. Compare the Jewish and Christian idea of one God and his omnipotence 
with pagan ideas of the gods and their limited powers. 

For Further Study 

1. Read Milton’s Ode on the Morning of Christ’s Nativity. How does this 
poem represent the ancient paganism? 

2. Make a list of the cities of the Roman Empire to which St. Paul wrote 
his Epistles. Where were most of these cities situated? 

3. Summarize the New Testament narrative (Acts, xxvii-xxviii) of St. 
Paul’s voyage to Rome and indicate on the map (page 325) the route 
which he followed. 

4. Prepare an oral report on the catacombs of Rome. 

5. Trace the extent of Christianity by the end of the fourth century 
(map, page 329). 

6. Look up the original meaning of the words Gospel, Messiah, Gentile , 
apostle, presbyter, and bishop. 




Coins of Elis 

A famous statue of Zeus, by the sculptor Phidias, was one of the 
treasures of ancient Olympia. It represented the god as of colossal 
size and seated on a throne. The flesh parts were of ivory; the clothing 
was of solid gold on a core of wood or stone. The right hand of Zeus 
bore a Victory, and his left hand a scepter on which perched an eagle. 
The whole monument, including the pedestal, was about sixty feet high, 
so that men said Zeus could not stand up without putting his head 
through the roof. These coins probably afford some idea of the appear¬ 
ance of the statue. 


CHAPTER XIV 


THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS 

The settlement of the Teutonic tribes was not merely the introduction 
of a new set of ideas and institutions to combine with the old, it was also 
the introduction of fresh blood and youthful mind, the muscle and the 
brains which were in the future to do the larger share of the world’s work. 

— George Burton Adams 

The aim of the invaders was not to destroy the Roman Empire but to 
settle there and enjoy it. By and large, what they preserved far exceeded 
what they destroyed and what they brought that was new. 

— Henri Pirenne 

106. Germany and the Germans 

The region called Germany ( Germania ) in antiquity reached 
from the Rhine eastward as far as the Vistula and from the 
Danube northward to the Baltic Sea. It con- Physical 
sisted of dense forests, extensive marshes, and features of 
sandy plains, incapable of supporting a large German y 
population. Clouds and mists enveloped much of the country 
in summer, and in winter it lay buried under snow and ice. 
Such unfavorable conditions retarded the development of 
Germany, which was also shut out from the Mediterranean 
basin by mountain barriers. 

The Germans were an Indo-European people, speaking 
Teutonic languages related, on the one hand, to Greek and 
Latin and, on the other hand, to the Celtic and inhabitants 
Slavic tongues. Our earliest notice of them is of Germany 
found in the Commentaries by Julius Caesar, who twice in¬ 
vaded their country (§81). About a century and a half 
later the historian Tacitus (§ 98) wrote a little book 
called Germany , which gives an account of the people as they 
were before coming under the influence of Rome and Christi- 

339 


340 


The Barbarian Invasions 


anity. Tacitus describes them as barbarians. He speaks of 
their towering stature, fierce blue eyes, and blond or ruddy 
hair. These physical traits made them seem especially ter¬ 
rible to the smaller and darker Romans. He mentions their 
love of warfare, the fury of their onset in battle, and the 
contempt which they had for wounds and even death itself. 
When not fighting, they passed much of their time in the 
chase, and still more time in sleep and gluttonous feasts. 
They were deep drinkers, too, and so passionately fond of 
gambling that, when a man’s wealth was gone, he would 



Romans Destroying a German Village 

Relief on the Column of Marcus Aurelius, Rome. 


even stake his liberty on a single game. Tacitus also dwells 
on certain attractive qualities possessed by these northern 
barbarians. They were hospitable to the stranger, they 
respected their sworn word, and they loved liberty and 
hated restraint. Their chiefs, we are told, ruled rather by 
persuasion than by authority. Above all, the Germans had a 
pure family life. “Almost alone among barbarians,” writes 
Tacitus, “they are content with one wife. No one in 
Germany laughs at vice, nor is it the fashion to corrupt and 
be corrupted. Good habits are here more effectual than good 


















Germany and the Germans 341 

laws elsewhere.” The Germans, then, were strong and brave, 
hardy, chaste, and free. 

The love of fighting for its own sake, the desire for adven¬ 
ture, and the lust for booty explain in part the Germanic 
invasions — but only in part. They were prin- Reasons for 
cipally due to land-hunger. When the soil of the Germanic 
Germany, as people then understood how to use invasions 
it, could no longer sustain increasing numbers, the inhabit¬ 
ants had the alternative of migration or starvation. It 
was the same grim alternative that has faced man at every 
stage of savagery, barbarism, and civilization. The Germans 
chose to migrate, even though that meant war, and from 
time to time hurled themselves against the frontiers of the 
Roman Empire. 

The Roman Empire had long contained many Germans. 
Some were mercenaries in the imperial army. Augustus be¬ 
gan the practice of hiring them as soldiers, and by Rome and the 
the time of Constantine they formed the ma- Germans 
jority of the troops. The emperors also admitted friendly 
tribes of Germans within the frontiers to fill up the gaps in 
population and to farm the waste lands. Still other Germans 
entered the empire as slaves. The result was a very consider¬ 
able “barbarization” of the Roman world before the period 
of the invasions. 

An examination of the accompanying map 1 will show the 
position of the chief tribes and confederations on the eve 
of the great invasions. The Ostrogoths (East German 
Goths) lived north of the Black Sea, between tribes and 
the Don and Dniester rivers. Their kinsmen, ™ as edera " 
the Visigoths (West Goths), occupied the country 
now called Rumania, north of the lower Danube. The 
Vandals dwelt in the plains of Austria and Hungary and 
along the Oder River. The Burgundians inhabited what is 
now southern Germany. The Franks held lands on both 
sides of the lower Rhine, partly in western Germany and 
partly in northern Gaul. The Saxons, Angles, and Jutes 
1 See the map, page 342. 





















































































Breaking of the Danube Barrier 343 

had settled along the coast of the North Sea as far as the 
extremity of the present Denmark. There were many other 
tribes and confederations in the interior of Europe, but those 
just mentioned took the leading part in the invasions of the 
fourth and fifth centuries. 

107. Breaking of the Danube Barrier 

The Goths had long been among the most dangerous 
enemies of Rome. In the third century they made so many 
attacks on the eastern territories of the empire The Qothg 
that it was necessary to surrender to the Visi¬ 
goths the great province of Dacia (§ 86). The barbarians now 
came into contact with Roman civilization and began to lead 
more settled lives. Some of them even accepted Christianity 
in its Arian form (§ 104) from Bishop Ulfilas, a converted 
Visigoth, who translated the Bible into his native tongue. 

The peaceful fusion of Goth and Roman might have gone 
on indefinitely but for the sudden appearance in Europe of 
the Huns. They were a wild, nomadic people The Visi _ 
from central Asia. Entering Europe north of the goths cross 
Caspian Sea, the Huns quickly subdued the Os- the Danube 
trogoths and forced them to unite in an attack upon their 
German kinsmen. The Visigoths then crowded the banks 
of the Danube and begged the Roman authorities to allow 
them to cross that river and place its broad waters between 
them and their terrible foes. Their prayer was granted. Day 
and night the Visigoths poured across the Danube, some on 
board ships and rafts, others in canoes made of the hollowed 
trunks of trees. Their entire nation — men, women, and 
children — stood at length on Roman soil. 

The settlement of such a host of barbarians within the 
frontier of the empire was in itself a dangerous thing. The 
danger was increased by the bad treatment which Battle of 
the immigrants received. The Roman officials Adrianopie, 
robbed them of their possessions, withheld the 378 
promised supplies of food, and even tried to murder their 


344 


The Barbarian Invasions 


leaders at a banquet. Finally, the Germans broke out into 
open revolt. The emperor Valens misjudged their strength 
and rashly gave them battle near Adrianople in Thrace. 
The once invincible legions fell an easy prey to their foes, 
and the emperor himself perished. 

The defeat at Adrianople is considered one of the few really 
decisive battles in the world’s history. It showed the bar- 
a decisive barians that they could face the Romans in open 
battle fight an fi fi ea t them. And it broke, once for all, 

the Danube barrier. Swarms of fighting men, Ostrogoths as 
well as Visigoths, overran the provinces south of the Danube. 
Theodosius I, the successor of Valens, saved the empire 
for a time by granting lands to the Germans and by enrolling 
them in the army under the high-sounding title of ‘‘allies.” 
Until his death the barbarians remained quiet — but it was 
only the lull before the storm. 

Theodosius, “the friend of the Goths,” died in 395, leaving 
the defense of the now divided empire to his weakling sons, 
Alaric the Arcadius in the East and Honorius in the West. 
Visigoth j n the same year the Visigoths raised one of their 
young nobles, named Alaric, upon a shield and with joyful 
shouts acclaimed him as their king. The new leader despised 
the service of Rome. His people, he thought, should be 
masters, not servants. Alaric determined to lead them into 
the very heart of the empire, where they might find fertile 
lands and settle once for all. 

Alaric at first fixed his attention on Constantinople. 
Realizing, at length, how hopeless would be the siege of that 
Alaric in strongly walled city, he turned toward the west 

Greece and and descended upon Greece. The Germans 

marched unopposed through the Pass of Ther¬ 
mopylae and devastated central Greece, as the Persians had 
done nearly nine centuries before (§41). The barbarians 
then entered the Peloponnesus, but were soon driven out 
by Stilicho, a German chieftain who had risen to the com¬ 
mand of the army of Honorius. Alaric gave up Greece only 
to invade Italy. He led his people through the low passes 


345 


Breaking of the Danube Barrier 

of the Julian Alps and into the rich but defenseless valley 
of the Po. To meet the crisis the legions were hastily called 
in, even from the distant frontiers. Stilicho formed them 
into a powerful army, beat back the enemy, and captured 
the Visigothic camp, filled with the spoil of Greek cities. 
Stilicho seemed to the Romans a second Marius, who had 
arisen in their hour of peril to save Italy from its barbarian 
foes (§80). 

Alaric and his Visigoths had been repulsed; they had not 
been destroyed. Beyond the Alps they were regaining their 
shattered strength and biding their time. Their The Visi _ 
opportunity came soon enough, when Honorius goths before 
caused Stilicho to be put to death on a charge of Rome 
plotting to seize the throne. The accusation may have been 
true, but in killing Stilicho the emperor had cut off his right 
hand with his left. Now that Stilicho was out of the way, 
Alaric no longer feared to descend again on Italy. The 
Visigoths swept rapidly southward past Ravenna, where the 
wretched Honorius had shut himself up in terror, and made 
straight for Rome. In 410, just eight hundred years after 
the sack of the city by the Gauls (§ 73), Rome found the 
Germans within her gates. 

The city was given up to pillage for three days and nights. 
Alaric, who was a Christian, ordered his followers to respect 
the churches and their property and to refrain Sack of Rome 
from bloodshed. The city did not greatly suffer, by the visi- 
but the moral effect of the disaster was immense. goths ’ 410 
Rome, the eternal, the unconquerable, she who had taken 
captive so much of the ancient world, was now herself a 
captive. The pagans saw in this calamity the vengeance of 
the ancient deities, who had been dishonored and driven from 
their shrines. The Christians believed that God had sent 
a judgment on the Romans to punish them for their sins. 
In either case the spell of Rome was forever broken. 

Alaric now advanced into southern Italy. He probably in¬ 
tended to cross over into Sicily and thence into the rich 
province of Africa. The plan was never carried out, for the 


346 The Barbarian Invasions 


youthful chieftain died suddenly, a victim of the Italian 
Kingdom of fever. After Alaric’s death the Visigoths made 
the Visigoths, their way northward through Italy and settled in 
415-711 southern Gaul and Spain. They founded there an 
independent kingdom, the first to be created on Roman soil. 

The possessions of the Visigoths in Gaul were seized by 
their neighbors, the Franks, within less than a century, but 
Romaniza- their kingdom in Spain had three hundred years 
tion of the of prosperous life. The Visigothic rulers of the 
Visigoths peninsula sought to preserve the institutions of 
Rome and to respect the rights of their Roman subjects. 
Conquerors and conquered gradually blended into one 
people, out of whom have grown the modern Spaniards. 


108. Breaking of the Rhine Barrier 

Rome and Italy remained undisturbed for nearly forty 
years after the departure of the Visigoths. The western 
The Germans provinces were not so fortunate. At the time of 
cross the Alaric’s first attack on Italy the legions along the 
Rhine had been withdrawn to meet him, leaving 
the frontier unguarded. In 406, four years before Alaric’s 
sack of Rome, a great company of Germans crossed the 



A reconstruction of the fortified boundary of the Roman Empire between the upper 
Rhine and the upper Danube. 

Rhine and swept almost unopposed through Gaul. Some 
of these peoples carved out kingdoms for themselves from 
the ruins of the empire. 







347 


Breaking of the Rhine Barrier 

The Burgundians settled on the upper Rhine and in the 
fertile valley of the Rhone, in southeastern Gaul. Kingdom of 
After less than a century of independence, they 
were conquered by the Franks. Their name 534 ’ 
survives, however, in Burgundy, a territory now included 
in France. 

The Vandals settled first in Spain. The territory now 
called Andalusia after them still preserves the memory of 
these barbarians. After the Visigothic invasion of Vandal 
Spain the Vandals passed over to North Africa, kingdom in 
They made themselves masters of Carthage North Africa, 
and soon conquered all the Roman province of 
Africa. Their kingdom here lasted about one hundred years. 

While the Visigoths were finding a home in the districts 
north and south of the Pyrenees, the Burgundians in the 
Rhone Valley, and the Vandals in Africa, the The Franks 
Franks began to spread over northern Gaul. in Gaul 
They contented themselves with a gradual advance into 
Roman territory. It was not until near the close of the 
fifth century that they overthrew the Roman power in 
northern Gaul and began to form the Frankish kingdom out 
of which modern France has grown (§ 115). 

The troubled years of the fifth century saw also the begin¬ 
ning of the Germanic conquest of Britain. The withdrawal 
of the legions from that island left it defenseless, The Angles 
for the Celtic inhabitants were too weak to defend and Saxons 
themselves. Bands of savage Piets from what is in Bntam 
now Scotland swarmed over the Roman fortifications and 
attacked the Britons in the rear. Ireland sent forth the no 
less savage Scots. The eastern coasts, at the same time, were 
exposed to raids by Saxon pirates. “The barbarians,” 
groaned the wretched people, “drive us to the sea; the sea 
drives us back to the barbarians; thus two modes of death 
assail us — we are either slain or drowned.” The Britons, 
in their extremity, adopted the old Roman practice of getting 
the Germans to fight for them. Bands of Jutes were invited 
over from Denmark in 449. The Jutes forced back the Piets 


348 


The Barbarian Invasions 


and then settled down on the island as conquerors. They 
were followed by the Angles and Saxons, who subdued nearly 
all that part of Britain which Rome had previously con¬ 
quered. The Angles and Saxons in this way became ancestors 
of the English people, and Engleland became England. 

109. Inroads of the Huns 

We know very little about the Huns, except that they 
were an Asiatic people belonging to the Mongoloid or 
The Huns yellow race. During the fourth century they 
were already in Europe north of the Black 
Sea. Roman writers describe their olive skins, little, 
turned-up noses, black, beady eyes, and generally ferocious 
appearance. They spent most of their time on horseback, 
sweeping over the country like a whirlwind and leaving 
destruction and death in their wake. 

The Huns did not become dangerous to Rome for more 
than half a century after their first appearance in Europe 
Attiia the (§ 107). During this time they moved into the 

Hun Danube region and settled in the lands now 

known as Austria and Hungary. They found at length a 
national leader in Attiia, “a man born into the world to 
agitate the nations, the fear of all lands,” one whose boast it 
was that the grass never grew again where his horse’s hoofs 
had trod. He quickly built up a great military power obeyed 
by many barbarous peoples from the Caspian to the Rhine. 

Attiia, from his capital on the Danube, could threaten 
both the East and the West. The emperors at Constan- 
invasion of tinople bought him off with lavish gifts, and so 
Gaui by Attiia the robber-ruler turned to the western provinces 
for his prey. In 451 he led his motley host, said to number 
half a million men, across the Rhine. Many a noble munici¬ 
pality with its still active Roman life was visited by the Huns 
with fire and sword. Paris, it is worthy of note, escaped 
destruction. That now famous city was then only a village 
on an island in the Seine. 


End of the Roman Empire in the West 349 

Romans and Germans united against the common foe. 
Visigoths under their native king hastened from Spain; 
Burgundians and Franks joined their ranks; Battle of 
and to these forces was added the last Roman Chalons ’ *5i 
army in the West. Opposed to them Attila had his Huns, 
the conquered Ostrogoths, and many other barbarian peoples. 
The battle which now took place near Chalons on the Marne 
River has been well called a struggle of the nations. It was 
one of the fiercest conflicts recorded in history. Thousands 
perished on both sides, but so many more of Attila’s men fell 
that he dared not risk a fresh encounter on the following day. 
He drew his shattered forces together and retreated beyond 
the Rhine. 

Attila, in spite of this setback, did not abandon his plans 
for conquest. The next year he led his still formidable army 
over the Julian Alps and captured the most im- Attila in- 
portant fortresses of northern Italy, with the ex- vades Ital ? 
ception of Ravenna. Tradition declares that some of the 
fugitives from the Huns sought shelter on the islands in the 
shallow lagoons at the head of the Adriatic. Here in after 
ages grew up splendid and famous Venice, a city that in 
later centuries was to help defend Europe against those kins¬ 
men of the Huns, the Turks. 

The fiery Hun did not long survive this Italian expedition. 
Within a year he was dead, passing away suddenly, it was 
said, in a drunken sleep. The great confederacy Death of 
which he had formed broke up at once after his Attila 
death. The German subjects gained their freedom, and the 
Huns themselves either withdrew to their Asiatic wilds or 
mingled with the peoples whom they had conquered. Europe 
breathed again; the nightmare was over. 


110. End of the Roman Empire in the West 

Rome escaped a visitation by the Huns only to fall a 
victim to the Vandals. Having captured Carthage, they 
made it the seat of a pirate empire. They put out in their 





OO 

UO 


O 

O 


O 

O 

CO 






a ^ 






A 


Longitude West 0° East from Greenwich 


































End of the Roman Empire in the West 351 

long, light vessels, swept the western Mediterranean, and 
raided many a populous city on the coast. “Whither shall 
we sail?” a Vandal pilot is said to have asked vandal 
his chief at the outset of an expedition. “To the P irates 
dwellings of men with whom God is angry, ” was the answer. 
Their inroads were so terrible that the word “vandalism” 
has come to mean the aimless and wanton destruction of 
property. 

The ships of the Vandals, led by their king, Gaiseric, ap¬ 
peared at the mouth of the Tiber in 455. The Romans 
offered no resistance, but the bishop of Rome S ackofRome 
went out with his clergy to meet the invader and by the van- 
intercede for the city. Gaiseric promised to spare dals ’ 455 
the lives of the inhabitants and not to destroy the public 
buildings. These were the best terms he would grant. The 
Vandals spent fourteen days stripping Rome of her wealth. 
Besides shiploads of booty, they took away thousands of 
Romans as slaves, including the widow and two daughters 
of an emperor. 

After the Vandal sack of Rome the imperial throne became 
the mere plaything of the army and its leaders. Finally, a 
German commander, named Orestes, placed his The Roman 
own son on the throne of the Caesars. This lad, by Empire in 
a curious coincidence, bore the name of Romulus, V® st ’ 
legendary founder of Rome, and the nickname 
of Augustulus (“the little Augustus”). The boy emperor 
reigned less than a year. The barbarian troops serving in 
Italy as mercenaries clamored for a third of the lands of the 
peninsula. Their demand being refused by Orestes, they 
rose in revolt and proclaimed their general, Odoacer, king. 
Odoacer put his rival to death and occupied Ravenna, which 
had taken the place of Rome as the favorite residence of the 
emperors in the West. The poor little Romulus Augustulus 
was packed off to a villa near Naples, where he disappears 
from history. 

There was now no Western emperor. It seemed to the men 
of the time that East and West had been once more joined 


352 


The Barbarian Invasions 


under a single ruler, as in the days of Constantine and Theo¬ 
dosius I. Odoacer refused the imperial dignity, formally rec- 
The situation ognized the supremacy of the Roman emperor 
in 476 a t Constantinople, and accepted from the latter 

the title of “patrician,’’ which had been held before him by 
other barbarian leaders. Such was his position in legal 
theory. As an actual fact, Roman dominion dn the West 
had now come to an end. Odoacer, head of the barbarians 
in Italy, ruled a kingdom as independent as that of the 
Vandals in Africa or that of the Visigoths in Spain and Gaul. 
After 476 no emperor reigned in western Europe until the 
time of Charlemagne, more than three centuries later (§ 118). 
This date may therefore be chosen as marking, better than 
any other, the final overthrow of the Roman Empire in the 
West by the Germans. 

111. The “Fall” of Rome 

Why could not this great Roman Empire keep the Germans 
at bay and prevent them from occupying western Europe? 
Political Many reasons have been given for its failure to do 
weakness of so. We may point out, first, that the empire 
the empire embraced too wide a territory for its efficient 
management. It was so big as to be unwieldy. Second, the 
empire contained too many diverse peoples for its real uni¬ 
fication. There existed between them no unity of language, 
religion, and customs, which enables the inhabitants of a 
modern nation to work together for common ends. Third, 
the empire made no provision for local self-government. As 
time went on, nearly all power was concentrated in the hands 
of the emperor and his officials. He assessed the taxes, 
framed edicts having the force of laws, and acted as the 
supreme judge. The old Grseco-Roman ideal of democracy, 
which had meant so much for civilization, was destroyed by 
the imperial system. The inhabitants of the empire looked 
to their all-powerful ruler to protect them; when he failed 
to do so, they could not, or would not, protect themselves. 


The “Fair’ of Rome 


353 


The Germans entered the empire to find a spiritless people, 
who seldom opposed, and indeed often welcomed, their 
coming. 

There were still other reasons for the breakdown of the 
imperial system. The population of the empire seems to 
have much decreased, especially during the third Economic 
and fourth centuries. The long series of civil weakness of 
wars under the later emperors (§86), the raids the empire 
of the barbarians, and the ravages of malaria and great 
plagues were terribly destructive of human life. The birth¬ 
rate also declined, because there were fewer marriages and 
fewer children to a marriage. The custom of infanticide 
was likewise very common, especially among the poorer 
classes. The empire suffered from want of men to serve as 
soldiers in the armies, as artisans in the workshops, and as 
peasants on the farms. It is no wonder, therefore, that in 
province after province large tracts of land went out of 
cultivation, that the cities decayed, and that there was a 
general “slump” in commerce, manufacturing, and other 
forms of business enterprise. “Hard times” settled on the 
Roman world. The empire also suffered from want of 
money. To meet the heavy cost of the luxurious court, to 
pay the salaries of the swarms of public officials, and to 
feed and amuse the idlers in the great cities involved a heavy 
expenditure. Taxes were harder to collect, now that both 
population and production had so seriously fallen off. The 
harshest measures were adopted to wring from the wretched 
subjects every penny that could possibly be paid. They 
came to dread the visits of the taxgatherers even more than 
the inroads of the barbarians. 

To speak of the “fall” of Rome suggests the idea of a 
violent catastrophe which suddenly plunged the empire into 
ruin. The truth is, rather, that the breakdown Survival of 
of the imperial system was a gradual process, the empire in 
which lasted several hundred years. Rome was the East 
a long time falling. Nor had all of the empire fallen by the 
end of the fifth century. The barbarians never made much 


354 


The Barbarian Invasions 


impression on that part of its territory lying in eastern 
Europe. There the empire, with a capital at Constantinople, 
survived throughout the Middle Ages. 

112. Fusion of Germans and Romans 

Ancient civilization suffered a great shock when the Ger¬ 
mans descended on the Roman Empire and from its western 
>ja provinces carved out their kingdoms. These bar- 

Signmcance J ° 

of the Ger- barians were rude m manners, were very lgno- 

manicin- ran t, and had little taste for anything except 

fighting and bodily enjoyments. They were 
unlike the Romanized provincials in dress and habits of life. 
They lived under different laws, spoke different languages, 

and obeyed differ¬ 
ent rulers. The in¬ 
vasions naturally 
ushered in a long 
period of confusion 
and disorder, dur¬ 
ing which the bar- 
Anglo-Saxon Drinking Horn barians slowly 

Horn of Ulphus (Wulf) in the cathedral of York. The Ulised themselves 
old English were heavy drinkers, chiefly of ale and mead. tO 3 . level Of CUl- 
The evening meal usually ended with a drinking bout. , , 

ture somewhat 

approaching that which the Greeks and the Romans had 
reached. 

The Germans in many ways did injury to classical civiliza¬ 
tion. They sometimes destroyed the cities and killed or 
Immediate enslaved the inhabitants. Even when they 
results of the settled peaceably within the empire, they ap¬ 
propriated a large part of the farming land and 
set up their own tribal governments. They allowed aque¬ 
ducts, bridges, and roads to go without repairs, and theaters, 
baths, and other public buildings to sink into ruins. Being 
devoted chiefly to agriculture, they permitted both industry 
and commerce to languish. Lacking any appreciation of 






Fusion of Germans and Romans 355 

education, they failed to keep up schools, universities, and 
libraries. Classical civilization had been declining before the 
Germans came. The invasions hastened the decline, with the 
result that large parts of western Europe went back for 
several centuries into semi-barbarism. 

Nevertheless, the Germans had the capacity to learn, and 
the willingness to learn, from those whom they had con¬ 
quered. Their fusion with the Romans was ultimate re¬ 
helped by the previous settlement within the suits of the 
empire of so many German soldiers, colonists, invasions 
and slaves (§ 106). It was very greatly helped by the fact 
that some of the principal peoples, including the Visigoths, 
Ostrogoths, Vandals, and Burgundians, were already Chris¬ 
tians at the time of their invasions, while other peoples, 
including the Franks and Anglo-Saxons, afterward adopted 
Christianity. Finally, as observed before, the Germans in¬ 
vaded the empire to seek homes for themselves, rather than 
simply to pillage and destroy. They accepted what they 
understood of Graeco-Roman culture and then imparted to 
the enfeebled provincials their fresh blood, youthful minds, 
and vigorous, progressive life. The fusion of Germans and 
Romans formed the great work of the early Middle Ages 
in western Europe. 


For Explanation 


Germania 

Saxons 

Huns 

Ostrogoths 

Jutes 

Attila 

Visigoths 

Adrianople 

Chalons 

Vandals 

Alaric 

Gaiseric 

Burgundians 

Stilicho 

Orestes 

Franks 

Ravenna 

Odoacer 

Angles 

Piets 

Romulus Augustulus 


For Discussion 

1. Why did the Germans progress more slowly in civilization than the 
Greeks and Romans? 

2. Why is modem civilization, unlike that of antiquity, in little danger 
from barbarians? 


356 


The Barbarian Invasions 


3. Comment on this statement: “The Germans had stolen their way 
into the very citadel of the empire long before its distant outworks 
were stormed.” 

4. Why did the battle of Adrianople mark the beginning of the “death 
of Rome”? 

5. Why has Alaric been called the “Moses of the Visigoths”? 

6 . Why was Attila called the “Scourge of God”? 

7. Was or was not Chalons one of the decisive battles of the world? 

8 . Compare, as to results, the Vandal sack of Rome with that by the 
Visigoths. 

9. What is the origin of the geographical names Andalusia, Burgundy, 
England, and France? 

10. In what sense does the date 476 mark the end of the Roman Empire 
in the West? 

11. What do you understand by the “fall” of Rome? 

12. “The fall of the Roman Empire is the greatest tragedy in the history 
of the world.” Do you accept this statement? 

13. Set forth the conditions which favored, and those which hindered, 
the fusion of Germans and Romans. 


For Further Study 

1. Give the dates for the following events: battle of Adrianople; sack 
of Rome by Alaric; battle of Chalons; and deposition of Romulus. 
Augustulus. 

2. Make a list of all the Germanic peoples mentioned in this chapter 
and give some account of each. 

3. Trace the routes of the Visigoths, Vandals, and Huns (map, page 342). 

4. Prepare an oral report on the death and burial of Alaric the Visigoth. 

5. Hold a dialogue supposedly between Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, 
and the Roman bishop who went out to parley with him. 

6 . Indicate on the map (page 350) the political situation in Europe in 476. 


Supplementary 

Webster, Readings in Early European History, chapter xxiii; “The Ger¬ 
mans as Described by Tacitus.” 

Webster and Webb, Historical Outline Maps and Exercises: Early Euro¬ 
pean History, No. XI, The Barbarian Invasions and the Germanic 
Kingdoms. 


Part VI 

MEDIEVAL CIVILIZATION 

(Chapters XV-XXIV) 


The Middle Ages cover the thousand years and more between 
antiquity and modern times. The early Middle Ages formed in 
western Europe an era of turmoil and disorder, consequent upon 
the barbarian invasions. It took a long time for the Germans to 
settle in their new homes, to become thoroughly fused with the 
Romanized provincials, and to absorb what remained of Graeco- 
Roman, or classical, civilization (Chapter XV). There were also 
fresh inroads of the barbarians, and those of the Northmen 
(Chapter XVI) led to the foundation of new states and kingdoms. 
Out of the general confusion arose the system called feudalism 
(Chapter XVII), which, however imperfect, was a step toward 
the reorganization of society. Meanwhile, the Roman Church 
(Chapter XVIII) worked among the barbarians, Christianizing 
them and providing them with higher standards of life. The era 
of the early Middle Ages was also the time when the Moslem Arabs 
made their sweeping conquests and carried the faith of Islam 
throughout the Near East and around the shores of the Mediter¬ 
ranean (Chapter XIX). The Crusades (Chapter XX) may be 
regarded as an effort to win back the ground lost by the Arab 
advance, as a European counter-attack upon Asia. The Roman 
Empire in the East (“New Rome”), which survived until the 
middle of the fifteenth century, preserved the name, the culture, 
and some part of the dominions of “Old Rome” (Chapter XXI). 

The later Middle Ages were for western Europe a period of 
settled government, increasing knowledge, and steady progress in 
many fields of human activity. Strong national states arose in 
England, France, Spain, and other countries (Chapter XXII). 
Numerous new cities, with a thriving industry and commerce, 
came into being (Chapter XXIII). Nor was this period stagnant 
and barren, culturally. The various national or vernacular 
languages of Europe began to take their present form. Much 
fine literature in both poetry and prose was produced. Architec¬ 
ture revived and flowered in majestic cathedrals. Great univer¬ 
sities, attended by thousands of students, arose all over western 
Europe and became centers of liberal learning. This rich, many- 
sided culture (Chapter XXIV) naturally owed much to the clas¬ 
sical civilization which preceded it, but it was in many respects an 
original creation qf the medieval mind. It has not really disap¬ 
peared; it underlies the civilization of our own day. 




CHAPTER XV 

THE GERMANIC KINGDOMS IN WESTERN EUROPE 


The history of the five centuries from the end of the fifth to the end of the 
tenth, is the history of the efforts of the new nations of the West after 
organization, improvement, and power. 

— R. W. Church 

Among the institutions of the Middle Ages there is scarcely one which 
can be understood until it is traced up either to classical or to primitive 
Teutonic antiquity. 

— James Bryce 

113. The Ostrogoths in Italy 

We are not to suppose that the settlement of Germans 
within the Roman Empire ended with the deposition of 
Romulus Augustulus, near the close of the fifth From antiq _ 
century. The following centuries witnessed fresh uity to the 
invasions and the formation of new barbarian Mlddle Ages 
kingdoms. The study of these troubled times leads us from 
the ancient world to the world of medieval Europe, from the 
history of antiquity to the history of the Middle Ages. 

The kingdom which Odoacer established on Italian soil in 
476 (§ 110) did not long endure. It was soon overthrown by 
the Ostrogoths. They occupied at this time a The Ostro _ 
district south of the middle Danube, which the goths under 
government at Constantinople had hired them to Theodonc 
defend. The Ostrogoths turned out to be expensive and 
dangerous allies. When, therefore, their chieftain, Theod- 
oric, offered to lead his people into Italy and against 
Odoacer, the Roman emperor gladly sanctioned the under¬ 
taking. “ If I fail,” Theodoric said to the emperor, “you will 
be relieved of a troublesome friend; if I succeed, I shall 
govern Italy in your name and to your glory.” 

359 


360 The Germanic Kingdoms in Western Europe 

Theodoric led the Ostrogoths — women and children as 
well as warriors — across the Alps into Italy, defeated Odoa- 
Ostrogothic cer severa l battles, and shut him up in the 
invasion of strong fortress of Ravenna. Theodoric could 
Italy not capture the place and at length agreed to 

share the government with Odoacer, if the latter would 
surrender. The agreement was never carried into effect. 
When Theodoric entered Ravenna, he invited Odoacer to a 



Tomb of Theodoric at Ravenna 

Begun by Theodoric and completed by his daughter. It is a massive, ten-sided structure 
of two stories, with a dome consisting of a single block of Istrian stone about thirty-four 
feet in diameter. The mausoleum was converted into a Christian church during the Middle 
Ages. 

great feast and at its conclusion slew him and his chief officers 
in cold blood. The Ostrogoths were now supreme in Italy. 

Theodoric had gained the throne by violence and treach¬ 
ery, but he soon showed himself to be a wise, broad-minded, 
Theodoric, and humane ruler. He had lived as a youth in 
king of Italy the imperial court at Constantinople and there 
had become well acquainted with Roman ideas of law 
and order. Roman civilization impressed him; he wished 
not to destroy but to preserve it. Theodoric reigned in 
Italy for thirty-three years, and during this time the country 
enjoyed unbroken peace and prosperity. 






361 


The Lombards in Italy 

The influence of Theodoric reached far beyond Italy. He 
allied himself by marriage with most of the Germanic rulers 
of the West. His second wife was a Frankish Th eodoric’s 
princess, his sister was the wife of a Vandal chief- foreign 
tain, one of his daughters married a king of the pohcy 
Visigoths, and another daughter wedded a Burgundian king. 
Theodoric by these alliances brought about friendly relations 
between the various barbarian peoples. It seemed, in fact, 
as if the Roman dominions in the West might again be united 
under a single ruler; as if the Ostrogoths might be the Ger¬ 
manic people to carry on the civilizing work of Rome. No 
such good fortune was in store for Europe. 

Theodoric died in 526. The next year a great emperor, 
Justinian, came to the throne at Constantinople (§ 161). 
Justinian had no intention of abandoning to Endof the 
the Germans the rich provinces of Sicily and Ostrogothic 
Italy. The Ostrogoths made a stubborn resist- kmgdom 
ance to his armies, but in the end they were so completely 
overcome that they agreed to withdraw from the Italian 
peninsula. The feeble remnant of their nation filed through 
the passes of the Alps and, mingling with other barbarian 
tribes, became lost to history. 

114. The Lombards in Italy 

The destruction of the Ostrogothic kingdom did not free 
Italy of the Germans. The country was overrun by the Lom¬ 
bards soon after Justinian’s death. The name of Invasion of 
these invaders (in Latin, Langobardi) may have Italy by the 
been derived from the long beards that gave them Lombards 
such a ferocious aspect. The Lombards were the last of the 
Germanic peoples to quit their northern wilderness and seek 
new homes in sunny Italy. They seized the territory north 
of the river Po — a region ever since known as Lombardy — 
and established their capital at Pavia. The Lombards after¬ 
ward made many settlements in central and southern Italy, 
but never succeeded in subduing the entire peninsula. 


362 The Germanic Kingdoms in Western Europe 

The rule of the Lombards at first bore harshly on Italy, 
which they treated as a conquered land. Many of them were 
Lombard rule still heathen when they entered Italy and others 
in Italy were converts to the Arian form of Christianity 
(§ 104). In course of time, however, the Lombards accepted 
the orthodox Catholic faith and adopted the customs of 
their subjects. They even gave up their own language and 
learned to speak Latin. The Lombard kingdom lasted over 
two centuries, until it was overthrown by the Franks (§117). 

The failure of the Lombards to conquer all Italy had im¬ 
portant results in later history. Sicily and the extreme south- 
Resuits of the ern P art °f Italian peninsula, besides large 
Lombard in- districts containing the cities of Naples, Rome, 
Genoa, Venice, and Ravenna, continued to be¬ 
long to the Roman Empire in the East. The rulers at Con¬ 
stantinople could not exercise effective control over their 
Italian possessions, now that these were separated from one 
another by the Lombard territories. The consequence was 
that Italy broke up into a number of small and practically 
independent states, which never combined into one kingdom 
until our own time. The ideal of a united Italy waited thir¬ 
teen hundred years for its realization. 

115. The Franks 

We have already met the Franks in their home on the lower 
Rhine, from which they pushed gradually into Roman terri- 
ciovis, king t° r y (§ 168). In 486, just ten years after the 
of the Franks, deposition of Romulus Augustulus, the Franks 
went forth to conquer under Clovis, one of their 
chieftains. He defeated Syagrius, the governor of what was 
left of Roman Gaul, in a battle near Soissons, thus destroy¬ 
ing the last vestige of imperial rule in the West. He then 
turned against the Alamanni, a German people living in what 
is now known as Alsace, overcame them near Strasbourg, and 
added much of their territory to the Frankish realm. Clovis 
afterward conquered the Visigothic possessions between the 


The Franks 


363 


Loire and the Pyrenees and compelled the Burgundians to 
pay tribute. The Franks under Clovis were now supreme 
over nearly the whole of Gaul. 

Clovis reigned in western Europe as an independent king, 
but he acknowledged a sort of allegiance to the Eastern em¬ 
peror by accepting the honorary title of “con- The Franks 
sul.” Henceforth to the Romanized provincials andtheGaiio- 
he represented the distant ruler at Constanti- Romans 
nople. The inhabitants of Gaul were not oppressed; their 
cities were preserved; and their language and laws were 
undisturbed. Clovis did not hesitate to appoint Romans to 
important positions in the government and army, just as the 
Romans had long been accustomed to employ the Germans. 
This Frankish king may be compared with his contemporary, 
Theodoric the Ostrogoth, in his efforts to pose as an heir of 
the Roman Empire and a guardian of Latin culture. 

The Franks were still a heathen people when they began 
their career of conquest. Clovis, however, had married a 
Burgundian princess, Clotilda, who was a devout Christianiza 
Catholic and an ardent advocate of Christianity. tion of the 
The story is told how, when Clovis was hard- Rra * ks > 496 
pressed by the Alamanni at the battle of Stras¬ 
bourg, he vowed that if Clotilda’s God gave him victory he 
would become a Christian. The Franks won, and Clovis, 
faithful to his vow, had himself baptized by St. Remi, 
bishop of Reims. “Bow down thy head,” spoke the bishop, 
as the Frankish king approached the font, “adore what thou 
hast burned, burn what thou hast adored.’’ With Clovis were 
baptized on that same day three thousand of his warriors. 

The conversion of Clovis was an event of the first impor¬ 
tance. He and his Franks naturally embraced the orthodox 
Catholic faith, which was that of his wife, instead significance 
of the Arian form of Christianity, which had of Clovis’s 
been accepted by almost all the other Germanic conversion 
invaders. Catholicism, instead of Arianism, thus became the 
religion of a large part of western Europe. The conversion 
of Clovis gained for the Frankish king and his successors the 


364 The Germanic Kingdoms in Western Europe 

support of the Papacy. The friendship between the popes 
and the Franks afterward ripened into a close alliance, 
which greatly influenced European history. 

The descendants of Clovis are called Merovingians (after 
Merovech, grandfather of Clovis). They occupied the throne 
The Mero- of the Franks for nearly two hundred and fifty 
vingians years. The annals of their reigns form an un¬ 
pleasant catalogue of bloody wars, horrible murders, and 
deeds of treachery without number. Nevertheless, the earlier 
Merovingians were strong men, under whose direction the 
Frankish territory continued to expand, until it included 
nearly all of what is now France, Belgium, and Holland, 
besides a considerable part of Germany. 

The Frankish conquests differed in two important respects 
from those of the other Germanic peoples. In the first place, 
character of the Franks did not cut themselves off completely 
the Frankish from their original homes. They kept perma- 
conquests ne ntly their territory in Germany, drawing from 
it continual reinforcements of fresh German blood. In the 
second place, the Franks steadily added new German lands 
to their possessions. They built up in this way what was the 
largest and the most permanent of all the barbarian states 
founded in western Europe. 

116. The Franks under Charles Martel and 
Pepin the Short 

The later Merovingian kings degenerated into weaklings, 
who reigned but did not rule. The actual management 
“Do-nothing of the State passed into the hands of officers 
king s ” called “mayors of the palace.” They left to the 
kings little more than their title, their long hair — the 
badge of royalty among the Franks — and a scanty allow¬ 
ance for their support. The later Merovingians are often 
called the “do-nothing kings.” 

The most illustrious of the mayors was Charles, surnamed 
Martel, “the Hammer,” from the terrible defeat which he 


The Franks under Charles Martel and Pepin 365 

inflicted on the Arab invaders near Tours, in central France 
(§ 151). Charles Martel was really a king, but Charles 
he never ventured to set aside the Merovingian Martel 
ruler and himself ascend the throne. This step was taken, 
however, by Charles’s son, Pepin the Short. 

Before dethroning the last feeble “do-nothing,” Pepin 
sought the approval of the Papacy. The pope declareSrhat 
it was only right that the man who possessed the p ep in the 
real authority in the State should also have the Short 
royal title. Pepin then had himself crowned king of the 
Franks, thus founding the dynasty named Carolingian from 
Pepin’s son, Charles (Latin Carolus). Three years later the 
pope came to Pepin’s court and solemnly anointed the new 
ruler with holy oil, in accordance with ancient Jewish custom. 
The rite of anointing, something unknown to the Germans, 
gave to Pepin’s coronation the sanction of the Roman 
Church. The Frankish sovereigns henceforth called them¬ 
selves “kings by the grace of God.” 

Pepin was soon able to repay his great obligation to the 
Roman Church by becoming its protector against the Lom¬ 
bards (§ 114). These barbarians, who were try- « Donation 
ing to extend their rule in Italy, threatened to of Pepin,” 
capture Rome and the territory in the vicinity of 756 
that city, then under the control of the pope. Pepin twice 
entered Italy with his army, defeated the Lombards, and 
forced them to cede to the pope an extensive district lying 
between Rome and Ravenna. Pepin might have returned 
this district to the emperor at Constantinople, to whom it 
had belonged, but the Frankish king declared that he had 
not fought for the advantage of any man but for the welfare 
of his own soul. He decided, therefore, to bestow his con¬ 
quests on St. Peter’s representative, the pope. The bishops 
of Rome before this time had owned much land in Italy and 
had acted as virtual sovereigns in Rome and its neighborhood. 
Pepin’s gift, known as the “Donation of Pepin,” greatly in¬ 
creased their possessions, which came to be called the States 
of the Church. 



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The Reign of Charlemagne 


367 


117. The Reign of Charlemagne 

Pepin was succeeded in 768 by his two sons, one of whom, 
Charles the Great (Charlemagne), three years later became 
sole king of the Franks. Charlemagne reigned Charlemagne, 
for nearly half a century, and during this time he the man 
set his mark on all later European history. His appearance 
and character are familiar to us from a brief biography, 
written by his secretary, Ein¬ 
hard. Charlemagne, we learn, 
was a tall, square-shouldered, 
strongly built man, with bright, 
keen eyes, and an expression 
at once cheerful and dignified. 

Riding, hunting, and swimming 
were his favorite sports. He 
was simple in his tastes and 
very temperate in both food 
and drink. Except when in 
Rome, he wore the old Frank¬ 
ish costume, with high-laced 
boots, linen tunic, blue cloak, 
and sword girt at his side. He 
was a clear, fluent speaker, used 
Latin as readily as his native 
tongue, and understood Greek 
when it was spoken. “He also 
tried to learn to write and 
often kept his tablets and writ¬ 
ing book under the pillow of his couch, that, when he had 
leisure, he might practice his hand in forming letters; but 
he made little progress in this task, too long deferred and 
begun too late in life. ,, For the times, however, Charle¬ 
magne was a well-educated man — by no means a barbarian. 

Much of Charlemagne’s long life, almost to its close, was 
filled with warfare. He conquered the Lombards in Italy 
and brought their kingdom to an end. He invaded Spain 



Charlemagne 

Lateran Museum, Rome 
A mosaic picture, made during the life¬ 
time of Charlemagne, and probably a fair 
likeness of him. 















368 The Germanic Kingdoms in Western Europe 

and wrested from the Arabs a considerable district south of 
the Pyrenees. This frontier district received the name of 
charie- the Spanish March (or Mark). 1 His long struggle 
magne’s with the heathen Saxons led to the annexation of 
conquests German territory between the Rhine and 

the Elbe and the forcible conversion of its inhabitants to 
Christianity. His other wars extended the Frankish realm 
deep into central Europe. Charle¬ 
magne at the height of his power 
ruled over what is now France, 
Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, 
Austria, western Germany, north¬ 
ern Italy, and northern Spain, be¬ 
sides a part of Czechoslovakia and 
Jugoslavia. In this truly gigantic 
realm all the surviving Germanic 
peoples, except those in Denmark, 
Norway, Sweden, and Britain, were 
brought under the sway of one 
man. 

Charlemagne was a statesman 
as well as a warrior. He divided 
his wide domains into 
counties, each ruled by 
a count, who was ex¬ 
pected to keep order and administer 
justice. The border regions, which 
lay exposed to invasion, were organized into “marks,” under 
the military supervision of counts of the mark, or mar¬ 
graves (marquises). These officials had so much power and 
lived so far from the royal court that Charlemagne appointed 
special agents, called missi dominici (“the lord’s messen¬ 
gers”), to maintain control over them. The missi were usu¬ 
ally sent out in pairs, a layman and a bishop or abbot, in 
order that the one might serve as a check upon the other. 
They traveled from county to county, bearing the orders 
1 See the map, page 366. 


The Iron Crown of 
Lombardy 

A fillet of iron, which, according to 
pious legend, had been beaten out of 
one of the nails of the True Cross. 
It came to the Lombards as a gift 
from Pope Gregory I, as a reward 
for their conversion to Roman 
Catholicism. Charlemagne placed 
it on his own head after his conquest 
of the Lombards, and during the 
Middle Ages it was used to crown 
the German emperors kings of Italy. 
The jewels were added at this time. 
The crown is now kept in a church 
at Monza in northern Italy. 


Charle¬ 

magne’s 

government 











Charlemagne and the Roman Empire 369 

of their royal master and making sure that these orders were 
promptly obeyed. Charlemagne thus kept well informed as 
to the condition of affairs throughout his kingdom. 

Charlemagne made a serious effort to revive civilization 
in western Europe from the low state into which it had 
fallen during the period of the barbarian inva- Civilizing 
sions. We still possess a number of laws issued work of S 
by this Frankish king for the promotion of edu- ^ rl ®“^ gne 
cation. He founded schools in the monasteries 
and cathedrals, where not only the clergy but also the 
common people might receive some training. He formed his 
whole court into a palace school, in which learned men from 
Italy, Spain, and England gave instruction to his own 
children and those of his nobles. He had the manuscripts 
of Latin authors collected and copied, so that the knowledge 
preserved in books should not be forgotten. All this civi¬ 
lizing work, together with the peace and order which he 
maintained throughout a wide territory, made his reign the 
most brilliant period of the early Middle Ages. 

118. Charlemagne and the Roman Empire 
in the West 

Charlemagne, the champion of Christendom and the fore¬ 
most ruler in Europe, seemed to the men of his time the 
rightful successor of the Roman emperors. He coronation 
had their power, and now he was to have their of charie- 
name. On Christmas Day, 800, the pope, in old magne ’ 800 
St. Peter’s Church at Rome, placed on his head a golden 
crown, while all the people cried out with one voice, “Long 
life and victory to Charles Augustus, the great and pacific 
emperor of the Romans, crowned by God!” 

Charlemagne seems to have been surprised by the pope’s 
act, but it is probable that he wished to become Re asons for 
emperor. The imperial title would confer upon the corona- 
him greater dignity and honor, though not greater tlon 
power, than he possessed as king of the Franks and Lorn- 


370 The Germanic Kingdoms in Western Europe 



bards. The pope, in turn, was glad to reward the man who 
had protected the Roman Church and had done so much to 
spread the Catholic faith among the heathen. The Roman 
people also welcomed the coronation, because they felt that 
the time had come for Rome to assume her old place as the 
capital of the civilized world. To reject 
the Eastern ruler, in favor of the great 
Frankish king, was an emphatic'method of 
asserting Rome’s independence of Constan¬ 
tinople. 


Cathedral at Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) 


Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) was the capital city and favorite residence of Charlemagne. 
The church which he built here was almost entirely destroyed by the Northmen in the tenth 
century. The octagonal building surmounted by a dome, which forms the central part of 
the present cathedral, is a restoration of the original structure. The marble columns, pave¬ 
ments, and mosaics of Charlemagne’s church were brought by him from Ravenna. The 
emperor was buried in this church, where his remains are still preserved within an antique 
sarcophagus. His successors on the throne were also crowned here until the sixteenth 
century. 


The coronation of Charlemagne forms one of the most 
Significance significant events in early medieval history. It 
of the might be thought a small matter that he should 

coronation take i m p er j a i title, when he already exer¬ 
cised imperial sway throughout western Europe. Charle- 

















Otto the Great and the Holy Roman Empire 371 

magne’s contemporaries believed, however, that the Roman 
Empire had now been revived, more than three centuries 
after the deposition of Romulus Augustulus (§ 110). 

Charlemagne’s empire was not in any true sense a con¬ 
tinuation of the Roman Empire in the West. It did not 
include North Africa, Britain, or much of Spain. Charle _ 

It did include, on the other hand, extensive terri- magne’s 
tories east of the Rhine and north of the Danube empire 
. which the Romans had never been able to conquer. Further¬ 
more, the German Charlemagne and his German successors 
on the imperial throne had little in common with the old 
Roman emperors, who spoke Latin, administered Roman 
law, and regarded the Germans as their most dangerous foes. 
Charlemagne’s empire was, indeed, largely a new creation, 
the result of an alliance between the kingdom of the Franks 
and the Roman Church. 

119. Otto the Great and the Holy Roman 
Empire 

The empire of Charlemagne passed to his only legitimate 
son, a weak ruler, who had difficulty enough in keeping it 
intact. After the latter’s death the empire was Division of 
divided among Charlemagne’s three grandsons, charie- 
though only one could hold the imperial title. magne ’ s 
Disputes which soon arose about the inheritance 
found a temporary settlement in a treaty concluded at 
Verdun (843). Lothair, the oldest brother, received North 
Italy and a narrow strip of land along the valleys of the 
Rhine and the Rhone, between the North Sea and the 
Mediterranean. Louis and Charles, the other brothers, re¬ 
ceived kingdoms lying to the east and west, respectively, 
of Lothair’s territory. These arrangements have historical 
importance, because they foreshadowed the future map of 
western Europe. The East Frankish kingdom of Louis, 
inhabited almost entirely by Germans, was to develop into! 
modern Germany. The West Frankish kingdom of Charles, 


372 The Germanic Kingdoms in Western Europe 

inhabited mainly by descendants of Romanized Gauls, was 
to become modern France. Lothair’s kingdom, however, 
never became one national state. 

Even had Charlemagne been followed by strong and able 
rulers, it would have been almost impossible to hold the em- 
Renewed pire together in the face of the fresh series of bar- 
barbarian barian inroads which began immediately after 
invasions hfe death. The Mohammedan Arabs, though. 
checked by the Franks at the battle of Tours (§ 116), con-, 
tinued to be dangerous enemies. The piratical Northmen^ 
from Denmark and Norway harried the coast of France 
and made inroads far beyond Paris. They also penetrated 
into western Germany, sailing up the Rhine in their black 
ships and destroying many important towns. The Magyars, , 
or Hungarians, were also dreaded foes. These wild horsemen 
entered Europe from the plains of Asia and, like the Huns 
(§ 109) to whom they were probably related, spread devasta¬ 
tion far and wide. A great part of western Europe thus 
suffered from invasions almost as destructive as those which 
had brought ruin to the old Roman world. 

The conquering and civilizing tasks of Charlemagne were 
taken up in the tenth century by the kings of Germany, 
otto i as The most eminent of them was Otto I, whom 
German king history knows as Otto the Great. Tall and com¬ 
manding in presence, strong and vigorous of body, and 
gifted with much charm of manner, Otto presented the 
aspect of a born ruler. In his bronzed face shone clear and 
sparkling eyes, and down his breast hung a long, thick beard. 
He was a man of immense energy and ambition, with a high 
conception of his duties as a sovereign. It was Otto who 
finally freed Germany from the fierce Magyars. These bar¬ 
barians were now driven back to their lands on the middle 
Danube, where they settled down, became Roman Catholic 
Christians, and founded the kingdom of Hungary. As a 
protection against further Magyar inroads Otto established 
the East Mark. This region afterward became important 
under the more familiar name of Austria (§ 174). 


Otto the Great and the Holy Roman Empire 373 

Otto’s reign is also noteworthy in the history of Italy. 
Following in the footsteps of Charlemagne, Otto led his 
armies across the Alps, went to Rome, and 0 ttoias 
had the pope crown him Roman emperor Roman em- 
(962). Otto’s ardent spirit, one may well imag- peror 
ine, was fired with the vision of imperial sway and the re¬ 
newal of a title around which clustered so many glorious 
memories. 

The outcome of Otto’s coronation as Roman emperor 
was good neither for Italy nor for Germany. It became the 
rule, henceforth, that the man whom the German KaJy and 
nobles chose as their king had a claim, also, to Germany in 
the Italian crown and the imperial title. The J g e e ^ iddle 
efforts of the German kings to make good this 
claim led to their constant interference in the affairs of Italy. 
They treated that country as a conquered province which 
had no right to a national life and an 
independent government under its own 
rulers. At the same time they neglected 
their German possessions and failed to 
keep their powerful territorial lords in 
subjection. Neither Italy nor Germany, 
in consequence, could become a unified 
state, such as was formed in England, 

France, and Spain during the later 
Middle Ages. 

Otto’s imperial dominions were con¬ 
siderably smaller than Charlemagne’s, 
since they included only Germany and 
North Italy. Nevertheless, he and the emperors who followed 
him asserted vast claims to sovereignty in Europe, as the heirs 
of Charlemagne and, through Charlemagne, of The Hoiy 
Constantine and Augustus. The new empire came Roman Em- 
afterward to be called the Holy Roman Empire, pire 
the word Holy in its title expressing its intimate connec¬ 
tion with the Papacy. It lived on in some measure for 
more than eight hundred years and did not quite disappear 



Ring Seal of Otto 
the Great 

The inscription reads 
Oddo Rex. 


374 The Germanic Kingdoms in Western Europe 

from European politics until the opening of the nineteenth 
century. 



The Frankish Dominions as Divided by the Treaties 
of Verdun (843 a.d.) and Mersen (870 a.d.) 

The Treaty of Mersen was made by Louis and Charles, after the death of their brother 
Lothair. They divided between themselves Lothair’s kingdom north of the Alps, leaving 
to his young son the possession of northern and central Italy and the empty title of 
emperor. 


120. The Anglo-Saxons 

The conquest of Britain by the Anglo-Saxons (§ 108) was a 
slow process, which lasted at least one hundred and fifty 
Anglo-Saxon years. The invaders followed the rivers into the 
conquest of interior and gradually subdued more than a half 
of what is now England, comprising the fertile 
plain district in the southern and eastern parts of the island. 
They destroyed many flourishing settlements of the Roman- 





































The Anglo-Saxons 


375 














































































































































































































































376 The Germanic Kingdoms in Western Europe 

ized Britons, but doubtless spared the women, whom they 
married, and the agricultural laborers, whom they made 
slaves. Other natives took refuge in the hill regions of west¬ 
ern and northern Britain, where their descendants kept their 
Celtic language and traditions. The Anglo-Saxons regarded 
the Britons with contempt, naming them Welsh, a word 
which means one who talks gibberish. The antagonism 
between the two peoples died out in the course of centuries; 
conquerors and conquered intermingled; and one English 
nation came into being. 

The Anglo-Saxons started to fight one another before they 
ceased fighting their common enemy, the Britons. Through- 
The seven out the seventh and eighth centuries the Anglo- 
kingdomsin Saxon states were engaged in almost constant 
struggles, either for increase of territory or for 
supremacy. The kingdoms farthest east — Kent, Sussex, 
Essex, and East Anglia — found their expansion checked by 
other kingdoms — Northumbria, Mercia, and Wessex — 
which grew up in the interior of the island. Each of these 
three stronger states gained in turn the leading place. Early 
in the ninth century Egbert, king of Wessex (802-839), com¬ 
pelled all the other Anglo-Saxon kings to acknowledge him 
as overlord. He thus began the work of uniting the Anglo- 
Saxons under one government. 

Christianity reached the Anglo-Saxons by way of Rome. 
It was brought in 597 by the monk Augustine, whom the 
Conversion of P°P e ’ Gregory the Great (§ 144), had sent with 
the Anglo- forty companions to preach the gospel to the 
244 )° nS (242 heathen English. They landed in Kent, then a 
kingdom under Ethelbert. He had a Christian 
wife, the Frankish princess Bertha. The king of Kent, 
already well disposed toward the Christian faith, greeted 
the missionaries kindly and told them that they were free 
to convert whom they would. He and his court soon em¬ 
braced Christianity, and the people of Kent then followed 
the royal example. The monks were assigned a residence 
in Canterbury, a city which has ever since remained the re- 


The Anglo-Saxons 377 

ligious capital of England. Christianity gradually spread 
from Kent into the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. 

When the Germans along the Rhine and the Danube 
crossed the frontiers and entered the western provinces, they 
had already been partially Romanized. They Anglo-Saxon 
understood enough of Roman civilization to ap- Britain 
preciate it and to desire to preserve it. The situation was 
quite different with the Anglo-Saxons. Their original home 
lay in a part of Germany far beyond the borders of the 
Roman Empire and remote from the cultural influences of 
Rome. Coming to Britain as barbarians, they naturally 
introduced their own 
language, laws, and 
customs wherever they 
settled. Much of what 
the Anglo-Saxons 
brought with them still 
lives in England, and 
from that country has 
spread to the United 
States and the vast 
English colonies be¬ 
yond the seas. The 
English language is less 
indebted to Latin than 
any of the Romance 
languages (§ 184), and the Common Law of England owes 
much less to Roman law than do the legal systems of Con¬ 
tinental Europe (§ 167). England, indeed, looks to the Anglo- 
Saxons for some of the most characteristic and important 
elements of her civilization. 

We have now followed the fortunes of the Germans for 
about five centuries, from the end of the Roman Empire in 
the West. Most of their kingdoms, it has been The 
seen, were not permanent. Only those estab- Germanic 
lished by the Franks and the Anglo-Saxons de- kingdoms 
veloped into lasting states. The history of France and Ger- 



St. Martin’s Church, Canterbury 

The present church, dating from the thirteenth 
century, occupies the site of a chapel built before the 
arrival of Augustine. The walls still contain some 
of the Roman bricks used in the original structure. 
St. Martin’s Church was the scene of the earliest 
work of Augustine in Canterbury. 



378 The Germanic Kingdoms in Western Europe 

many after Otto the Great and of England after Egbert 
takes us well into the Middle Ages. 


For Explanation 


Roman Empire in the West 

Treaty of Verdun 

Magyars 

Otto the Great 

Holy Roman Empire 

Wessex 

Egbert 

Augustine 

Canterbury 


Theodoric do-nothing kings 

Lombards mayors of the palace 

Clovis Charles Martel 

Soissons Pepin the Short 

Alamanni Carolingian 

Strasbourg Donation of Pepin 

Gallo-Romans States of the Church 

Reims margrave 

Merovingians missi dominici 


For Discussion 


1. How did Theodoric seek to preserve Roman civilization in Italy? 

2. Why was the extinction of the Ostrogothic kingdom a misfortune for 
Italy? 

3. Why did Italy remain for so many centuries after the Lombard invasion 
merely “a geographical expression”? 

4. Compare the conversion of Clovis with that of Constantine. 

5. What difference did it make whether Clovis became an Arian or a 
Catholic? 

6. What events in the lives of Clovis and Pepin the Short contributed to 
the alliance between the Frankish rulers and the popes? 

7. Compare Charlemagne’s government of his empire with the imperial 
system of the Persian ruler, Darius I. 

8. What provinces of the Roman Empire in the West were not included 
within the limits of Charlemagne’s empire? 

9. What was meant by calling Charlemagne “Emperor of the Romans”? 

10. How did the division of Charlemagne’s empire foreshadow the future 
map of western Europe? 

11. Mention some reasons why it was unfortunate for Germany and Italy 
to be included in one empire. 

12. Why might the inhabitants of England be more properly described as 
Anglo-Celts than as Anglo-Saxons? 

13. Compare the conquest of England by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes 
with the conquest of Gaul by the Franks. Which was the more 
destructive? 

14. Comment on the importance of the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons. 


The Anglo-Saxons 379 

For Further Study 

1. Write and act a dialogue between a “mayor of the palace” and one 
of the later Merovingian kings. 

2. Distinguish the hereditary dominions of Charlemagne from those which 
he acquired by conquest (map, page 366). 

3. Dramatize the coronation of Charlemagne as Roman emperor. 

4. Indicate on the map (page 375) those parts of the British Isles which 
remained Celtic in population, in spite of the Anglo-Saxon invasions. 
Why were these regions not conquered by the invaders? 

5. Look up in an encyclopedia or longer history an account of Augustine’s 
mission to Britain and report to class. 


Supplementary 

Webster, Readings in Early European History, chapter xxiv, “Stories of 
the Lombard Kings”; chapter xxv, “Charlemagne”; chapter xxvii, 
“The Reestablishment of Christianity in Britain.” 

Webster and Webb, Historical Outline Maps and Exercises: Early European 
History, No. XII, Revival of the Roman Empire in the West (800); 
No. XIII, Break-up of Charlemagne’s Empire; No. XIV, Britain under 
the Anglo-Saxons. 





Charlemagne’s Signature 

The emperor’s signature as attached to a charter signed at Kurstein in 790. Only the small 
lines within the diamond were made by Charlemagne. 


CHAPTER XVI 


THE NORTHMEN AND THE NORMANS 

The Germanic peoples had done much for the development of European 
civilization in the time of the wanderings of the nations, but by the end of 
the eighth century they had lost much of their pristine vigor through 
contact with the richer and more luxurious civilization of the Roman world. 
It was reserved for the North Germanic peoples, or the Northmen as we 
can more fitly describe them, in the ninth and tenth centuries to give a yet 
more powerful stimulus to European life, if not to European thought, 
a stimulus which perhaps found its highest expression in the great creations 
of the Norman race in the world of politics, the world of commerce, the 
world of architecture, and the world of letters. 

— Allen Mawer 

121. The Viking Age 

The Northmen (Vikings) lived, as their descendants still 
live, in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. They spoke Teu- 
Northmen or tonic languages related to those of the Germans, 
vikings The same land-hunger which drove the German 
tribes southward and westward made the Northmen quit 
their bleak, sterile country and seek new homes abroad. 
Their migrations, beginning about the time of Charlemagne, 
may be regarded as the last wave of that great barbarian 
movement which had inundated western Europe and over¬ 
whelmed the Roman Empire. 

A very important source of information for the Viking Age 
consists of the writings called sagas. These narratives are 
in prose, but they were often based on the songs 
The sagas w hich minstrels sang to appreciative audiences 
assembled at the banqueting board of a Viking chieftain. 
Eventually, the sagas were committed to writing. This was 
done chiefly in Iceland, and so it happens that we must 
look to that distant island for the beginnings of Scandinavian 

380 


381 


The Viking Age 

literature. Some of the most important sagas describe the 
explorations and settlements of the Northmen and hence 
have considerable value as historical records. 

The sagas throw much light on the character of the North¬ 
men. Love of adventure and contempt for the quiet joys of 
home come out in the description of Viking chiefs, The North _ 
who “never sought refuge under a roof nor emp- men as seen 
tied their drinking-horns by a hearth.” An in the sagas 
intense love of fighting breathes in the accounts of Viking 
warriors, “who are glad when they have hopes of a battle; 



A Viking Ship 


A Viking chieftain, after his days of sea-roving had ended, was sometimes buried in his 
ship, over which a grave-chamber, covered with earth, would be erected. Several such 
burial ships have been discovered. The Gokstad vessel, shown in the illustration, is of oak, 
twenty-eight feet long and sixteen feet broad in the center. It has seats for sixteen pairs of 
rowers, a mast for a single sail, and a rudder on the right or starboard side. The gunwale 
was decorated with a semes of shields, painted alternately black and gold. 

they will leap up in hot haste and ply the oars, snapping the 
oar-thongs and cracking the tholes.” The undaunted spirit 
of Viking sailors, braving the storms of the northern ocean, 
expresses itself in their sea songs: “The force of the tempest 
assists the arms of our oarsmen; the hurricane is our servant, 
it drives us whithersoever we wish to go.” The sagas also 
reveal other characteristics of the Northmen: a cruelty and 


382 The Northmen and the Normans 

faithlessness which made them a terror to their foes; an 
almost barbaric love of gay clothing and ornament; a strong 
sense of public order, giving rise to an elaborate legal system; 
and even a feeling for the romantic beauty of their northern 
home, with its snow-clad mountains, dark forests of pine, 
sparkling waterfalls, and deep, blue fiords. 

Another literary production of the Viking Age consists of 
the poems known as the Elder Edda. Like the prose sagas 
, they were collected and arranged in Iceland dur- 

mg the later Middle Ages. The Elder Edda is a 
storehouse of mythology. It forms our chief source of in¬ 
formation concerning Scandinavian heathenism before the 
introduction of Christianity. 


122. Scandinavian Heathenism 

The leading deity of the Northmen was Odin (German 
Woden), whose exploits are celebrated in many songs of the 
Odin Elder Edda. Odin was represented as a tall, gray- 

bearded chieftain, carrying a shield and a spear 
which never missed its mark. Though a god of battle, Odin 
was also a lover of wisdom. He discovered the runes, or 
alphabetic writing, which gave him secret knowledge of all 
things. Legend told how Odin killed a mighty giant, whose 
body was cut into pieces to form the world: the earth was 
his flesh, the water his blood, the rocks his bones, and the 
heavens his skull. Having created the world and peopled it 
with human beings, Odin retired to the sacred city of Asgard, 
where he reigned in company with his children. 

Enthroned beside Odin sat his eldest son, Thor (German 
Thunor ), god of thunder and lightning. His weapon, the 
thunderbolt, was imagined as a hammer, and was 

Thor . „ , 

especially used by him to protect gods and men 
against the giants. The hammer, when thrown, returned 
to his hand of its own accord. Thor also possessed a belt 
of strength, which, when girded about him, doubled his 
power. 


Scandinavian Heathenism 


383 


Many stories were told of Thor’s adventures when visiting 
the abode of the giants. In a drinking-match he tried to 
drain a horn of liquor, not knowing that one end Myths of 
of the horn reached the sea, which was appreci- Thor 
ably lowered by the god’s huge draughts. He sought to 
lift from the ground a large, gray cat, but struggle as he 
might, could raise only one of the 
animal’s feet. What Thor took 
for a cat, however, was really the 
Midgard serpent, which, with its 
tail in its mouth, encircled the 
earth. In the last trial of strength 
Thor wrestled with an old woman 
and after a violent contest was 
thrown down upon one knee. But 
the hag was in truth relentless old 
age, which sooner or later lays low 
all men. 

Odin’s son, Balder, was the most 
beautiful and best beloved of the 
Scandinavian divini- Myth of 
ties. He was repre- Balder 
sented as a gentle deity of innocence 
and righteousness. As long as he 
lived, evil could gain no real con¬ 
trol in the world, and the power of 
the gods would remain unshaken. 

To preserve Balder from all danger 
his mother required everything on 
earth to swear never to harm her 
son. Only a single plant, the 
mistletoe, did not take the oath. 

The traitor Loki then gathered 
the mistletoe and came to an assembly where the gods were 
hurling all kinds of missiles at Balder, to show that nothing 
could hurt him. Loki asked the blind Hoder to throw the 
plant at Balder. Hoder did so, and Balder fell dead. The 



Norse Metal Work 

Museum, Copenhagen 


A door from a church in Iceland; 
date, tenth or eleventh century. 
The iron knob is inlaid with silver. 
The slaying of a dragon is repre¬ 
sented above and below is shown the 
Midgard serpent. 








384 


The Northmen and the Normans 


gods tried to recover him from Hel, the gloomy underworld, 
but Hel demanded as his ransom a tear from every living 
creature. Gods, men, and even things inanimate wept for 
Balder, except one cruel giantess —- Loki in disguise — who 
would not give a single tear. Loki said, “Neither living nor 
dead was Balder of any use to me. Let Hel keep what she 
has.” 

Disasters followed Balder’s death. An immense fire burned 
up the world and the human race. The giants invaded As- 
“ Twilight of gard and slaughtered its inhabitants. Odin fell 
the Gods ” a victim to the mighty wolf Fenris. Thor, having 
killed the Midgard serpent, was suffocated with the venom 
Which the dying monster cast over him. The end of all 
things arrived. This was the catastrophe which had been 
predicted of old — the “Twilight of the Gods.” 

Christianity first gained a foothold in Denmark through 
the work of Roman Catholic missionaries sent out by a son 
. of the emperor Charlemagne. Two centuries 

Chnstiamza- , / _ 1=5 , , 

tion of the passed before the Danes were completely con¬ 

verted. The new faith spread from Denmark to 
Sweden. Norway owed its conversion largely to 
the crusading work of King Olaf, whose zeal for Christianity 
won him the title of Olaf the Saint. The Norwegians, in turn, 
carried Christianity to their settlements in Iceland. 


Northmen 

(253-254) 


123. Discoveries and Settlements of the 
Northmen 

The Northmen, when they began their inroads, were bar¬ 
barous and heathen, untouched by Graeco-Roman civiliza- 
From piracy tion or by the Christian religion. They started 
out as pirates and fell on the coasts of England, 
France, and Germany. They also found it easy 
to ascend the rivers in their shallow boats and reach places 
far inland. The Northmen directed their attacks especially 
against the churches and monasteries, which were full of 
treasure and less easily defended than fortified towns. Their 


to coloniza 
tion 






































































386 


The Northmen and the Normans 


The North¬ 
men in 
Iceland 


raids inspired such great terror that a special prayer was 
inserted in the church services: “From the fury of the 
Northmen, good Lord, deliver us.” The incursions of the 
Northmen took place at first only in summer, but before 
long they began to winter in the lands which they visited. 
Their fleets became larger year by year, and their attacks 
changed from mere forays of pirates to well-organized expe¬ 
ditions of conquest and colonization. The accompanying 
map shows their extensive discoveries and settlements, to¬ 
gether with the dates when these were made. 

The Northmen soon discovered Iceland, where Irish monks 
had previously settled. One of the most valuable of the 
sagas — the “Book of the Land-taking” — de¬ 
scribes the emigration to the island and enu¬ 
merates the Viking chiefs who took part in the 
movement. Iceland soon became almost a second Norway 
in language, literature, and customs. It remains to-day an 
outpost of Scandinavian civilization. 

The first settlement of Greenland was the work of an Ice¬ 
lander, Eric the Red, who reached the island toward the end 
The North- °f the tenth century. He called the country 
men in Greenland, not because it was green, but because, 
Greenland as sa ^ “there is nothing like a good name to 
attract settlers.” Norway and Greenland continued to enjoy 
a flourishing trade for several centuries. After the connection 
with Norway had been severed, the Greenlanders joined the 
Eskimos and mingled with that primitive people. 

Two of the sagas give accounts of a voyage which Leif 
Ericsson, son of Eric the Red, made about 1000 to regions 
The North- tying southward from Greenland. In the sagas 
men in they are called Helluland (stone-land), Markland 
(wood-land), and Vinland. Just what part of the 
coast of North America these countries occupied is an un¬ 
solved problem. Leif Ericsson and the Greenlanders who 
succeeded him seem to have reached at least the shores of 
Labrador, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia. They may have 
gone even farther southward, for the sagas describe regions 


Discoveries and Settlements of the Northmen 387 


where the climate was mild enough for wild vines and wild 
wheat to grow. The Northmen did not follow up their 
explorations by lasting settlements. All memory of the far 
western lands faded before long from the minds of men. 
The curtain fell on the New World, not again to rise until 
the time of Columbus and Cabot. 

The Norwegians had taken the leading part in the ex¬ 
ploration of the West. The Swedes, on account of their 
geographical situation, were naturally the most The North _ 
active in expeditions to the East. They overran men in 
Finland, whose rude inhabitants, the Finns, were Fmland 
of Asiatic origin. Sweden ruled Finland throughout the 
Middle Ages. 

The activities of the Swedes also led them to establish 
settlements on the southern shore of the Baltic and far inland 
along the waterways leading into Russia. That The North _ 
country in 862 came under the rule of a Swedish men in 
adventurer named Ruric, who established a Russia 
dynasty which reigned there for more than seven hundred 
years (§ 217). The first Russian state centered in the city 
of Novgorod, which during the Middle Ages formed an im¬ 
portant station on the trade route between Constantinople 
and the Baltic . 1 Some of Ruric’s followers, passing south¬ 
ward along the Dnieper River, took possession of the small 
town of Kiev. It became later the capital of the Scandina¬ 
vian possessions in Russia. 

During the reign of Vladimir, a descendant of Ruric, the 
Christian religion gained its first foothold in Russia. We are 
told that Vladimir, having made up his mind to Russia 
embrace Christianity, sent commissioners to christianized, 
Rome and Constantinople. They reported in 988 
favor of the Greek Church, for their barbarian imagination 
had been so impressed by the majesty of the ceremonies per¬ 
formed in the great cathedral of Sancta Sophia that “they 
did not know whether they were on earth or in heaven.” 
Vladimir accepted their report, ordered the idols of Kiev 
1 See the map, page 385. 


388 


The Northmen and the Normans 


to be thrown into the Dnieper, and had himself and his 
people baptized according to the rites of the Greek Church. 
At the same time he married a sister of the reigning emperor 
at Constantinople. Vladimir’s decision to adopt the Greek 
form of Christianity is justly regarded as one of the formative 
influences in Russian history. It meant that the Russian 
people were to come under the religious and civilizing influ¬ 
ence of Constantinople, instead of under that of Rome. 


124. Normandy and the Normans 


No part of western Europe suffered more severely from the 
Northmen than France. They first appeared on the French 
France over- coas t toward the end of Charlemagne’s reign, 
run by the After that ruler’s death the wars of his grand- 
Northmen SO n S j e ^ em pi re defenseless, and the North¬ 
men in consequence redoubled their attacks. They sailed 
far up the rivers of France to plunder and murder. Paris, 
then a small but important city, lay in the path of the 
invaders and more than once suffered at their hands. The 
destruction by the Northmen of many monasteries was a 
loss to civilization, for the monastic establishments at 
this time were the chief centers of learning and culture 
(§ 141). 


The history of the Northmen in France began in 911, when 
the Carolingian king granted to a Viking chieftain, Rollo, 
„ „ J dominion over the region about the lower Seine, 
grant of Rollo, on his part, agreed to accept Christianity 

Normandy, and to acknowledge the French ruler as his lord. 

It is said, however, that he would not kneel and 
kiss the king’s foot as a mark of homage, and that the follower 
who performed the unwelcome duty did it so awkwardly as to 
overturn the king, to the great amusement of the assembled 
Northmen. The story illustrates the Viking sense of inde¬ 
pendence. 

The district ceded to Rollo developed into what in later 
times was known as the duchy of Normandy. Its Scandi- 


389 


Conquest of England by the Danes 

navian settlers, henceforth called Normans, soon became 
thoroughly French in language and culture. It was amaz¬ 
ing to see how quickly the descendants of wild sea- Duchy of 
rovers put off their heathen ways and made their Normandy 
new home a Christian land, noted for its churches, monas¬ 
teries, and schools. 

The Normans helped to found the medieval French mon¬ 
archy. During the tenth century the old Carolingian line of 
rulers, which had already died out in Germany The Normans 
and Italy, came also to an end in France. A new and Hugh 
dynasty was then founded by a nobleman named Capet ’ 987 
Hugh Capet, who secured the aid of the powerful Norman 
dukes in his efforts to gain the throne. The accession of Hugh 
Capet took place in 987. His descendants reigned over 
France for almost exactly eight hundred years. 

125. Conquest of England by the Danes; 
Alfred the Great 

Even before Egbert of Wessex succeeded in uniting all the 
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (§ 120), bands of Vikings, chiefly from 
Denmark, had made occasional forays on the En g landover . 
English coast. Egbert kept the Danes at bay, run by the 
but after his death the real invasion of England Danes 
began. The Danes came over in large numbers, made perma¬ 
nent settlements, and soon controlled all England north of 
the Thames. 

Wessex before long felt the full force of the Danish attack. 
The country at this time was ruled by Alfred, the grand¬ 
son of Egbert. Alfred mounted the throne in King Alfred 
871 , when he was only about twenty-three years and the 
old. In spite of his youth, he showed himself the Danes 
right sort of leader for the hard-pressed West Saxons. After 
much fighting, Alfred gained a signal victory over the enemy, 
who were now glad to make peace and accept the religion of 
their conquerors. The English and Danes finally agreed 
to a treaty dividing the country between them. The eastern 


390 


The Northmen and the Normans 


part of England, where the invaders were firmly established, 
came to be called the Danelaw, because here the Danish, 
and not the Anglo-Saxon, law prevailed. 

It was a well-nigh mined country which Alfred had now to 
rule over and build up again. His work of restoration invites 
civilizing comparison with that of Charlemagne. Alfred’s 
work of Alfred first care was to organize a fighting force always 
(354) ready at his call to repel invasion. He also 

created an efficient fleet, which patrolled the coast and en¬ 
gaged the Vikings on their own element. He had the laws 



A Scene from the So-called Bayeux Tapestry 

Museum of Bayeux, Normandy 

The Bayeux Tapestry, which almost certainly belongs to the time of the Norman Con¬ 
quest, is a strip of coarse linen cloth, about 230 feet long by 20 inches wide, embroidered in 
worsted thread of eight different colors. There are seventy-two scenes picturing various 
events in the history of the Norman Conquest. The illustration above represents an 
attack of Norman cavalry on the English shield wall at the battle of Hastings. 

of the Anglo-Saxons collected and reduced to writing, taking 
pains at the same time to see that justice was done between 
man and man. He did much to rebuild the ruined churches 
and monasteries. Alfred labored with especial diligence to 
revive education among the English folk. His court at Win¬ 
chester became a literary center where learned men wrote 
and taught. The king himself mastered Latin, in order that 
he might translate Latin books into the English tongue. 
So great were Alfred’s services in this direction that he has 
been called “the father of English prose.” 

Alfred, alone of English rulers, bears the title of “the 












391 


Norman Conquest of England 

Great.” He well deserves it, not only for what he did but 
for what he was. Through the mists of ten centuries his 
figure still looms large. It is the figure of a Alfred’s 
brave, patient, and modest man, who wore himself characta r 
out in the service of his people. The oft-quoted words which 
he added to one of his translations form a fitting epitaph for 
this noble king: “My wish was to live worthily as long as I 
lived, and after my death to leave to them that should come 
after, my memory in good works.” His wish has been ful¬ 
filled. 

About seventy-five years after Alfred’s death the Danes 
renewed their invasions. It then became necessary to buy 
them off with an annual tribute. Early in the From Alfred 
eleventh century Canute, the son of a Danish to the Nor- 
king, succeeded in establishing himself on the man Con( i uest 
English throne. His dynasty did not last long, however, 
and at length the old West-Saxon line was restored in the 
person of Edward the Confessor (or “the Saint”). Edward 
had spent most of his early life in Normandy, and on coming 
to England brought with him a large following of Normans, 
whom he placed in high positions. During his reign Norman 
nobles and churchmen gained a foothold in England, thus 
preparing the way for the Norman conquest of the country. 

126. Norman Conquest of England; William 
the Conqueror 

Edward the Confessor having left no direct heirs, the choice 
of his successor fell lawfully upon the Witenagemot (“meeting 
of wise men”), the national assembly of noble- Harold and 
men and higher clergy. This body chose as william 
king, Harold, earl of Wessex, the leading man in England. 
Harold’s right to the succession was disputed by William, 
duke of Normandy, who declared that the Crown had been 
promised to him by his cousin, the Confessor. William also 
asserted that Harold had once sworn a solemn oath, over a 
chest of sacred relics, to support his claim to the throne on 


392 


The Northmen and the Normans 


Edward’s death. When word came of Harold’s election, 
William wrathfully denounced him as a usurper and be¬ 
gan to prepare a fleet and an army for the invasion of Eng¬ 
land. 

Normandy under Duke William had become a powerful, 
well-organized state. Norman knights, attracted by prom- 
invasion of ises of wide lands and rich booty if they should 
England conquer, formed the core of William’s forces. 

Adventurers from every part of France, and even from Spain 
and Italy, also entered his service. The pope blessed the 
enterprise and sent to William a ring, containing a hair from 
St. Peter’s head, and a consecrated banner. When all was 
ready in the late fall of 1066, a large fleet, bearing five or six 
thousand archers, foot-soldiers, and horsemen, crossed the 
Channel and landed in England. 

William at first met no resistance. Harold was far away in 
the north fighting against the Norwegians, who had seized the 
Battle of opportunity to make another descent on the Eng- 
Hastings, lisH coast. Harold defeated them decisively and 
then hurried southward to face his new foe. The 
two armies met near Hastings on the road to London. All 
day they fought. The stout English infantry, behind their 
wall of shields, threw back one charge after another of the 
Norman knights. Again and again the duke rallied his men 
and led them where the foe was thickest. A cry arose that 
he was slain. “I live,” shouted William, tearing off his 
helmet that all might see his face, “and by God’s help will 
conquer yet.” At last, with the approach of evening, Harold 
was killed by an arrow; his household guard died about him; 
and the rest of the English took to flight. William pitched 
his camp on the field of victory, and “sat down to eat and 
drink among the dead.” 

The battle of Hastings settled the fate of England. Fol¬ 
lowing up his victory with relentless energy, William pressed 
William be- on to London. That city, now practically the. 
comes king capital of the country, opened its gates to him. 
The Witenagemot, meeting in London, offered the throne to 


The Normans in Southern Italy and Sicily 393 

William. On Christmas Day, 1066, in Westminster Abbey, 
the duke of Normandy was crowned king of England. 

What manner of man was William the Conqueror? Tall of 
stature, endowed with tremendous strength, and brave even 
to desperation, he seemed an embodiment of the william’s 
old Viking spirit. “No knight under heaven,” personality 
men said truly, “was William's peer.” A savage temper and 
a harsh, forbidding countenance made him a terror even to 
his closest followers. “So stern and wrathful was he,” wrote 
an English chronicler, “that none durst do anything against 
his will.” Though William never shrank from force or fraud, 
from bloodshed or oppression, to carry out his ends, he yet 
showed himself throughout his reign a patron of learning, 
a sincere supporter of the Church, and a statesman of re¬ 
markable insight. He has left a lasting impress on Eng¬ 
lish history. 

Norman merchants and artisans followed Norman soldiers 
to England and settled particularly in the southern and 
eastern parts of the island. They seem to have „ 

r -ill i Norman ele- 

emigrated m considerable numbers and doubt- mentinthe 
less added an important element to the English 
population. The Normans thus completed the 
work of the Anglo-Saxons and Danes in making England 
largely a Germanic country. 


127. The Normans in Southern Italy and Sicily 

The unsettled condition of Italy gave the Normans an op¬ 
portunity for interference in the affairs of that country. The 
founding of Norman power there was largely the conquests 
work of a noble named Robert Guiscard (“the of Robert 
Crafty”), a man almost as celebrated as William Gmscard 
the Conqueror. He had set out from his home in Normandy 
with only a single follower, but his valor and shrewdness soon 
brought him to the front. Robert united the scattered bands 
of Normans in Italy, who were fighting for pay or plunder, 
and wrested from the Roman Empire in the East its last 


394 


The Northmen and the Normans 


territories in the peninsula. Most of southern Italy now 
passed under Norman rule. 

Robert’s brother, Roger, crossed the Strait of Messina and 
began the subjugation of Sicily, then an Arab possession. 
Roger Its recovery from the hands of “infidels” was 

Guiscard’s considered by the Normans a work both pleasing 
conquests to q oc i anc i profitable to themselves. By the 
close of the eleventh century they had finally established 
their rule in the island. 

The conquests of the Normans in southern Italy and Sicily 
were united into a single state, which came to be known as 
Kingdom of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The Normans 
the Two kept it for only about one hundred and fifty 
years, but under French, Spanish, and Austrian 
rulers it lasted until the middle of the nineteenth century. 



The conquests of the Normans in England, Italy, and 
Sicily were made after they had become a Christian and a 
The Normans French-speaking people. In these lands they 
in European were the armed missionaries of a culture not their 
own. The Normans, indeed, invented little and 
borrowed much. They were more than simple imitators, 
however. The language, literature, art, religion, and law 


















The Normans in Southern Italy and Sicily 395 

which they took from others they improved and then spread 
abroad wherever they settled. Their mission, it has been 
well said, was to be leaders and energizers of society, “the 
little leaven that leaveneth the whole lump.” European civ¬ 
ilization during the early Middle Ages owed much to them. 


Vikings 

sagas 

Eddaic poems 
Odin 
Thor 
Balder 

Olaf the Saint 
Leif Ericsson 


For Explanation 


Ruric 

Novgorod 

Kiev 

Vladimir 

Rollo 

Hugh Capet 
Capetian dynasty 
Danelaw 


Canute 

Edward the Confessor 
Harold 

William the Conqueror 
Hastings 
Robert Guiscard 
Roger Guiscard 
Two Sicilies 


For Discussion 

1. Why has the Baltic Sea been called a “secondary Mediterranean”? 

2. Why is an acquaintance with Scandinavian mythology, literature, 
and history especially desirable for English-speaking peoples? 

3. What is meant by “sea-power ”? What people possessed it during the 
ninth and tenth centuries? 

4. Compare the invasions of the Northmen with those of the Germans as 
to (a) causes, ( b ) area covered, and (c) results. 

5. What was the significance of the fact that the Northmen were not 
Christians at the time when they began their expeditions? 

6. Show how the voyages of the Northmen vastly increased geographical 
knowledge. 

7. Mention three conquests of England by foreign peoples before 1066. 
Give for each conquest the results and the approximate date. 

8. Compare Alfred and Charlemagne as promoters of civilization. 

9. Compare Alfred’s cession of the Danelaw with the cession of Normandy 
to Rollo. 

10. Why is Hastings included among “decisive” battles? 

11. “We English are not ourselves but somebody else.” Comment on 
this statement. 

12. What is meant by the “Norman graft upon the sturdy Saxon tree”? 

13. What settlements of the Northmen most influenced European history? 

14. Account for the origin of the geographical names Russia, Greenland, 
Finland, and Normandy. 


396 


The Northmen and the Normans 


For Further Study 

1. Make a list of the chief Scandinavian gods and goddesses, with their 
attributes. 

2. Prepare an oral report on our names of the week days. What names 
have been derived from those of Scandinavian deities? What was the 
origin of the other names? 

3. Read Longfellow’s “The Saga of King Olaf” (in Tales of a Wayside 
Inn) and report to the class. 

4. Locate the regions discovered and colonized by the Northmen (map, 
page 385). 


Supplementary 

Webster, Readings in Early European History, chapter xxx, “The Saga 
of a Viking”; chapter xxxi, “Alfred the Great”; chapter xxxii, “Wil¬ 
liam the Conqueror and the Normans in England.” 



Alfred’s Jewel 

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford 
A jewel of blue enamel inclosed 
in a setting of gold, with the 
words around it “Alfred had me 
wrought.” Found at Athelney in 
the seventeenth century. 



CHAPTER XVII 


FEUDALISM 

The feudal organization of state and society is the dominant fact of 
medieval history on its institutional side, quite as much as the city-state 
is the dominant fact of ancient history from the institutional point of view. 

— Paul Vinogradoff 

Feudalism was not merely a form of government and a structure of 
society; it was a civilization, a culture, a psychology. 

— James Westfall Thompson 

128. Rise of Feudalism 

The ninth century in western Europe was a period of vio¬ 
lence, disorder, and even anarchy. Charlemagne for a time 
had arrested the disintegration of society which J , 

o j ^ dark a^Q 

resulted from the invasions of the Germans, and 
had united their warring tribes under something like a 
centralized government. His empire, attacked by the North¬ 
men and other invaders and weakened by civil conflicts, 
soon broke up into separate kingdoms (§ 119). 

Charlemagne’s successors in France, Germany, and Italy 
possessed little real authority. They reigned, but did not rule. 
During this dark age it was impossible for a king Decline of 
to govern with a strong hand. The absence of the royal 
good roads or of other easy means of communi- authonty 
cation made it difficult for him to move troops quickly from 
one district to another, in order to quell revolts or resist 
invasions. Even had good roads existed, the lack of ready 
money would have prevented him from maintaining a strong 
army devoted to his interests. Moreover, the king’s subjects, 
as yet not welded into a nation, felt toward him no sentiments 
of loyalty and affection. They cared far less for their king, 

397 


398 


Feudalism 




of whom they knew little, than for their own local lords who 
dwelt near them. 

The decline of the royal authority meant that the chief 
functions of government would be more and more per- 
increased formed by the nobles, who were the great land- 

power of the owners of the kingdom. Under Charlemagne 
these men had been the king’s officials, appointed 
by him and holding office at his pleasure. Under his suc¬ 
cessors they tended to become almost independent princes. 
Western Europe thus entered upon the stage of feudalism, 
when the possession of land carried with it the obligation of 
military service. 

Feudalism in Europe was not a unique development. 
Parallels to it may be found in other parts of the world. 
Parallels to Whenever the State becomes incapable of pro- 
European tecting life and property, powerful men in each 
feudalism locality will themselves undertake this duty; 
they will assume the burden of their own defense and of those 
weaker men who seek their aid. Such was the situation in 
ancient Egypt for several hundred years, in medieval Persia, 
and in Japan until the second half of the nineteenth century. 

European feudalism arose in the countries which had 
formed Charlemagne’s empire, that is, in France, Germany, 
Extent of and northern Italy. It also spread to Bohemia, 

European Hungary, Poland, and the Christian states of 

feudalism Spain. The Normans transplanted it into Eng¬ 

land, southern Italy, and Sicily. The crusaders introduced it 
into the kingdoms which they founded in the Near East 
(§§ 156,158). The Scandinavian countries still later became 
acquainted with feudalism. 

Feudalism flourished for several hundred years, but during 
the later Middle Ages it largely passed away in one European 
Duration of country after another. It decayed and disap- 

feudaiism peared as the authority of the great nobles was 

undermined, on the one side, by the kings, who were always 
anti-feudal (§ 165), and, on the other side, by the cities, 
which were equally anti-feudal (§ 176). Other reasons for the 


Feudalism as a Form of Local Government 399 


decay and disappearance of feudalism will be mentioned 
in the course of our narrative. 

129. Feudalism as a Form of Local Government 

The basis of feudal society was usually the landed estate. 
Here lived the noble, surrounded by dependents over whom 
he exercised the rights of a petty sovereign. He Feudal 
could tax them; he could require them to give sovereignty 
him military assistance; he could try them in his courts. A 
great noble, the possessor of many estates, even enjoyed the 
privilege of declaring war, making treaties, and coining money. 
How, it will be asked, did these rights and privileges arise? 

Owing to the decay of commerce and industry, land had be¬ 
come practically the only form of wealth in the early Middle 
Ages. The king, who was regarded as the abso- Feudal tenure 
lute owner of the soil, would reward his officials of land 
for their services by giving them the use of a certain amount 
of land. In the same way, one who had received large 
estates would parcel them out among his followers in return 
for their support. An unscrupulous noble might sometimes 
seize the lands of his neighbors and compel them to become 
his tenants. Sometimes, too, those who owned land in their 
own right might surrender the title to it in favor of a noble, 
who then became their protector. 

An estate in land which a person held of a superior lord, on 
condition of performing some “honorable” service, was called 
a fief (Latin feudum ). At first the tenant re- Thefief 
ceived the fief only for a specified term of years 
or for his' lifetime; but in the end it became inheritable. On 
the death of the tenant his eldest son succeeded him in pos¬ 
session. This right of the first-born son to the whole of the 
father’s estate was known as primogeniture. If a man had 
no legal heir, the fief went back to its lord. 

The tie which bound the tenant who accepted a fief to the 
lord who granted it was called vassalage. Every holder of 
land was in theory, though not always in fact, the vassal of 


400 


Feudalism 



Possessions of the Count of Champagne 

(Twelfth Century) 


some lord. At the apex of the feudal pyramid stood the 
king, the supreme landlord, who was supposed to hold his 
Vassalage land from God; below the king stood the greater 
( 29 °) lords (dukes, marquises, counts, and barons), with 

large estates; and below them stood the lesser lords, or 
knights, whose possessions were considered too small for 
further subdivision. 
















































Feudalism as a Form of Local Government 401 


The vassal owed various services to the lord. In time of 
war he did garrison duty at the lord’s castle and joined 
him on military expeditions. In time of peace Personal 
the vassal attended the lord on ceremonial services of 
occasions, gave him the benefit of his advice, thevassal 
when required, and helped him as a judge in trying cases. 

The vassal, under certain circumstances, was also expected 
to make money payments. When a new heir succeeded to 
the fief, the lord received from him a sum usually The vassal , s 
equivalent to one year’s revenue of the estate, money 
This payment was called a “relief.” Again, if a payments 
man sold his fief, the lord demanded another large sum from 
the purchaser, before giving his consent to the transaction. 
Vassals had also to raise money for the lord’s ransom, in case 
he was made prisoner of war, to meet the expenses connected 
with the knighting of his eldest son, and to provide a dowry 
for his eldest daughter. Such exceptional payments went 
by the name of “aids.” 

The vassal, in return for his services and payments, 
looked to the lord for the protection of life and prop¬ 
erty. The lord agreed to secure him in the en- The lord , s 
joyment of his fief, to guard him against his duty to the 
enemies, and to see that in all matters he re- vassal 
ceived just treatment. This was no slight undertaking. 

The ceremony of homage symbolized the whole feudal re¬ 
lationship. One who proposed to become a vassal and hold a 
fief came into the lord’s presence, bareheaded Homage 
and unarmed, knelt down, placed his hands be¬ 
tween those of the lord and promised henceforth to become 
his “man” (Latin homo). The lord then kissed him and 
raised him to his feet. After the ceremony the vassal placed 
his hand upon the Bible, or upon sacred relics, and swore 
to remain faithful to his lord. This was the oath of fealty. 
The lord then gave the vassal some object — a stick, a clod 
of earth, a lance, or a glove — in token of the fief with the 
possession of which he was now “invested.” 

The feudal method of land tenure, coupled with the custom 


402 


Feudalism 


of vassalage, made in some degree for security and order. 
Each noble was attached to the lord above him by the bond 
of personal service and the oath of fealty. To 
government a his vassals beneath him he was at once protec- 
substitute for tor, benefactor, and friend. Feudal obligations, 
of course, were not always strictly observed. 
Both lords and vassals often broke their engagements, when 
it seemed profitable to do so. They had many quarrels 
and indulged in constant warfare. Feudalism, nevertheless, 
was better than anarchy. The feudal lords drove back 
the pirates and hanged the brigands and enforced the laws, 
as no feeble king could do. Feudalism provided in this 
way a rude form of local government for a rude society. 


130. Feudal Justice 


Feudalism was also a form of local justice. Knights, 
barons, counts, and dukes had their separate courts, and 
judicial the king had his court above all. Cases arising 
rights of on the lord’s estate were tried before him and 
the vassals whom he called to his assistance in 
giving justice. Since most wrongs could be atoned for by 
the payment of a fine, the administration of justice on a large 
fief produced a considerable income. The nobles, accord¬ 
ingly, regarded their judicial rights as a valuable property, 
which they were loath to surrender to the State. 

The feudal court did not require the accuser to prove his 
case by calling witnesses and having them give testimony. 
The oath The burden of proof lay on the accused, who had 
(301) to clear himself of the charge, if he could do so. 

In one form of trial it was enough for him to declare his 
innocence under oath, and then to bring in several “oath- 
helpers,” sometimes relatives, but more often neighbors, 
who swore that they believed him to be telling the truth. 
The number of these “oath-helpers” varied according to the 
seriousness of the crime and the rank of the accused. This 
method was hardly as unsatisfactory as it seems to be, for a 


Feudal Justice 


403 


person of evil reputation might not be able to secure the 
required number of friends who would commit perjury on his 
behalf. To take an oath was a very solemn proceeding; 
it was an appeal to God, by which a man called down on 
himself divine punishment if he swore falsely. 

The consequences of a false oath were not apparent at 
once. Ordeals, however, formed a method of appealing to 
God, the results of which could be immediately ordeals 
observed. A common form of ordeal was by fire. ( 302 - 303 ) 
The accused walked barefoot over live brands, or stuck 
his hand into a flame, or carried a piece of red-hot iron for a 



Water Test for Witchcraft 


certain distance. In the ordeal by hot water he plunged his 
arm into boiling water. A man established his innocence 
through one of these tests if the wound healed properly 
after three days. The ordeal by cold water rested on the 
belief that pure water would reject the criminal. Hence the 
accused was thrown bound into a stream: if he floated he 





















404 


Feudalism 


was guilty; if he sank he was innocent and had to be rescued. 
This ordeal was often employed to detect witches. Ordeals 
were doubtless useful in many instances. The real culprit 
would often prefer to confess, rather than incur the anger 
of God by submitting to the test. 

A form of trial which especially appealed to the warlike 
nobles was the judicial duel. The accuser and the accused 
The judicial fought with each other; and the conqueror won 
duel (305) the case> God, it was believed, would give vic¬ 
tory to the innocent party, because he had right on his side. 
When one of the adversaries could not fight, he secured a 

champion to take his place. 
The judicial duel finally 
went out of use in the law 
courts, but it continued to 
be employed privately, as a 
means of settling disputes 
which involved a man’s 
honor. Duelling was a very 
common practice, even as 
late as the nineteenth cen¬ 
tury, but it has now nearly 
disappeared in civilized 
communities. It does not 
appeal to our industrial, 
democratic, and unroman¬ 
tic age. 

Oaths, ordeals, and duels formed an inheritance from Ger¬ 
manic antiquity. They offered a sharp contrast to Roman 
Feudal and law, which acted in the public interest, balanced 
Roman law evidence, and sought only to get at the truth. 
After the middle of the twelfth century the revival of the 
study of Roman law, as embodied in Justinian’s code (§ 161), 
led gradually to the abandonment of most forms of appeal 
to the judgment of God. The kings at the same time grew 
powerful enough to take into their own hands the adminis¬ 
tration of justice. 



Champions Fighting 

A picture on a thirteenth-century tile found 
on the site of Chertsey Abbey, England. 


Feudal Warfare 


405 


131. Feudal Warfare 

Feudalism, once more, was a form of local defense. The 
knight must guard his small estate, the baron his barony, the 
count his county, and the duke his duchy. The Military 
vassal had to follow his lord to war, either alone obligations of 
or with a certain number of men, according to avassal 
the size of the fief. This assistance was limited. A vassal 
served only for a definite 
period (varying from one 
month to three months in 
the year), and then only 
within a reasonable dis¬ 
tance from the lands for 
which he did homage. 

These restrictions made it 
difficult to conduct a long 
campaign, or one far re¬ 
moved from the vassal’s 
fief, unless mercenary sol¬ 
diers were employed. 

The feudal army, as a 
rule, consisted entirely of 
cavalry. Swiftly moving 
assailants, such as the 
Northmen and other barbarian invaders, could best be dealt 
with by mounted men, who could bring them The feudal 
to bay, compel them to fight, and overwhelm arm y 
them by the shock of the charge. Mailed horsemen thus 
came to dominate European battlefields. 

The armor used in medieval times was gradually per¬ 
fected, until at length the knight became a living fortress. 1 
He wore at first a cloth or leather tunic, covered Arms and 
with iron rings or scales, and an iron cap with armor 
nose guard. He later adopted chain mail, with a hood of the 
same material for the head. Still later he began to wear 
1 See the illustrations, pages 390, 405, and 478. 



Mounted Knight 

Seal of Robert Fitzwalter, showing a mounted 
knight in complete mail armor; date about 
1265. 



406 


Feudalism 


heavy plate armor, weighing fifty pounds or more, and a 
helmet with a visor which could be raised or lowered. Thus 
completely incased in metal, provided with shield, lance, 
straight sword or battle-ax, and mounted on a powerful 
horse, the knight could ride down almost any number of 
poorly armed foot-soldiers. It was not until the develop¬ 
ment of missile weapons — the longbow, and later the 
musket — that infantry resumed its importance in warfare. 
The feudal age by this time was drawing to a close. 

The nobles regarded the right of waging war on one another 
as their most cherished privilege. Fighting became almost a 
Prevalence f° rm of business enterprise, which enriched the 

of private lords and their retainers through the sack of 

warfare ( 299 ) cast i es> the plunder of villages, and the ransom of 
prisoners. Every hill became a stronghold and every plain 
a battlefield. Such private warfare, though rarely very 
bloody, spread havoc throughout the land. 

The Church lifted a protesting voice against this evil. It 
proclaimed a “Peace of God” and forbade attacks on all 

The Peace defenseless people, including priests, monks, pil- 

and Truce grims, merchants, peasants, and women. The 

298 )° d (29? feudal lords continued to war with each other, 

even though they were threatened with the eter¬ 
nal torments of hell; and so the Church tried to restrict what 
could not be altogether abolished. A “Truce of God” was 
proclaimed, including the whole period from Wednesday eve¬ 
ning to Monday morning of each week, the season of Lent, 
and various holy days. The truce would have given Chris¬ 
tendom peace for about two hundred and forty days each 
year, but it seems never to have been strictly observed ex¬ 
cept in limited areas. 

The kings, as their power increased in western Europe, 
naturally tried to stop the constant fighting in their 
Abolition dominions. The Norman rulers of Normandy, 
of private England, and the Two Sicilies restrained their 
warfare turbulent nobles with a strong hand. Peace 
came later in most parts of the Continent; in Germany, 


The Castle and Life of the Nobles 


407 


“fist right’’ (the rule of the strongest) prevailed until the 
end of the fifteenth century. The abolition of private war 
was the first step in Europe toward universal peace. The 
second step — the abolition of public war between nations 
— is yet to be taken. 

132. The Castle and Life of the Nobles 

The outward mark of feudalism was the castle (French 
chateau ), where the lord lived and from which he ruled his 
fief. The castle, in its earliest form, was simply Development 
a wooden blockhouse placed on a mound and of the castle 
surrounded by a stockade. The nobles later began to build 
in stone, which would better resist fire and the assaults of 
besiegers. A stone castle consisted at first of a single tower, 
square or round, with thick walls, few windows, and often 
with only one room to each story. As engineering skill 
increased, several towers were built and were then connected 
by outer and inner walls. The castle thus became a group 
of fortifications, which might cover a wide area. 

Defense formed the primary purpose of the castle. Until 
the introduction of gunpowder and cannon, the only siege 
engines employed were those known in ancient The castle 
times. They included machines for hurling a fortress 
heavy stones and iron bolts, battering rams, and movable 
towers, from which the besiegers crossed over to the walls. 
Such engines could best be used on firm, level ground. 
Consequently, a castle would often be erected on a high 
cliff or hill, or on an island, or in the center of a swamp. 
A castle without such natural defenses would be surrounded 
by a deep ditch (the moat), usually filled with water. If 
besiegers could not batter down or undermine the walls, 
they adopted the slower method of a blockade and tried 
to starve the garrison into surrendering. It was very diffi¬ 
cult, however, to capture a well-built, well-provisioned 
castle. 

A visitor to a medieval castle crossed the drawbridge over 


408 


Feudalism 


the moat and approached the narrow doorway, which was 
protected by a tower on each side. If he was admitted, the 
a castle iron grating (portcullis) rose slowly on its creak- 
described. i n g pulleys, the heavy, wooden doors swung open, 
and he found himself in the courtyard commanded by the 
great central tower (keep), where the lord and his family 



A High Angle To over YLFntrance Ga te 

B. & Smaller Side Tower L. Court terscarp 

C. C.D.D. Corner Tower T '[.Keep 

E. Outer Encein t e,orZower Court N- Es carp men t 
r u e U ‘Tj • • 7- „ o. Postern Tower 

Is.n.Bui/dwgs In Lower Court P. Postern Gate 
*• Moa t R.R.ParapetWa//s 


S. Gate LromEscarpment 
XT. Flan king To wers 

V Outer Towers 
X.Connecting Wall 

Y Stockade in River 
Z.Z GreatLiiches 


Plan of Chateau Gaillard 


lived, especially in time of war. At the summit of the keep 
rose a platform whence a sentinel surveyed the country far 
and wide; below, two stories underground, lay the dungeon, 
dark, damp, and dirty. A castle usually contained a hall 
for the lord’s residence in time of peace, a chapel, a kitchen, 








Chateau Gaillard (Restored) 


The finest of all medieval castles. Located on a high hill overlooking the Seine, 
about twenty miles from Rouen. Built by Richard the Lion-hearted within a 
twelvemonth (1197-1198) and by him called “Saucy Castle.’’ It was captured a few 
years later by the French king, Philip Augustus, and was dismantled early in the 
seventeenth century. The castle consisted of three distinct series of fortifications, 
besides the keep, which in this case was merely a strong tower. 

























































410 


Feudalism 


and stables, as well as accommodations for the lord's servants 
and soldiers. 

Life within the castle must have been rather dull. There 
were some games, especially chess, which the nobles learned 
Amusements from the Arabs. Banqueting formed the chief 
of the nobles indoor amusement. The lord and his retainers 
sat down to a gluttonous feast and, as they ate and drank, 
watched the pranks of a professional jester (“fool"), or 

listened to the songs 
and music of min¬ 
strels or, it may be, 
heard with wonder 
the tales of far-off 
countries brought 
by some returning 
traveler. A com¬ 
mon sport outside 
castle walls was 
hunting in the 
forests and game 

After a manuscript of the thirteenth century in the Biblio- preserves attached 
theque Nationale, Paris. * 

to every estate. 

Deer, bears, and wild boars were hunted with hounds; for 
smaller animals trained hawks, or falcons, were employed. 
But the nobles found in fighting their chief occupation and 
pastime. “To play a great game" was their description of a 
battle. 



133. Knighthood and Chivalry 

The prevalence of warfare in feudal times made the use of 
arms a profession requiring special training. A nobleman’s 
Apprentice- son served for a number of years, first as a page, 
ship of the then as a squire, in his father's castle or in that 
of some other lord. He learned to manage a 
horse, to climb a scaling ladder, and to wield sword, battle-ax, 
and lance. He also waited on the lord's table, assisted him 
at his toilet, followed him in the chase, and attended him 






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After the painting by F. V. E. Delacroix 
























Knighthood and Chivalry 411 



A Medieval Siege (Reconstruction) 

The castle is surrounded by a moat, on the other side of which the attack is being made 
by means of penthouses, lofty towers, and catapults. 


































412 Feudalism 

in battle. This apprenticeship usually lasted from five to 
seven years. 

When the young noble became of age, he might be made a 
knight. The ceremony of conferring knighthood was often 
Conferring of most elaborate. The candidate fasted, took a 
knighthood bath — the symbol of purification — and passed 
the eve of his admission in prayer. Next morning he con¬ 
fessed his sins, went to church, and listened to a sermon on 
the duties of knighthood. This ended, his father, or the 
noble who had brought him up, girded him with a sword and 
gave him the “accolade,” that is, a blow on the neck or 
shoulder, at the same time saying, “Be thou a good knight.” 
The youth, clad in shining armor and wearing golden spurs, 
then mounted his horse and exhibited his skill in warlike ex¬ 
ercises. If a squire for valorous conduct received knight¬ 
hood on the battlefield, the accolade by stroke of the sword 
formed the only ceremony. 

As manners softened and Christian teachings began to 
affect feudal society, knighthood developed into chivalry 
chivalry (French cheval, “horse”). The Church, which 
( 292 ) opposed the warlike excesses of feudalism, took 

the knight under her wing and bade him be always a true 
soldier of Christ. The “good knight” was he who respected 
his sworn word, who never took an unfair advantage of 
another, who defended widows and orphans against their 
oppressors, and who sought to make justice and right pre¬ 
vail in the world. Chivalry thus marked the union of pagan 
and Christian virtues, of Christianity and militarism. 

Needless to say, the “good knight” appears oftener in 
romance than in sober history. Such a one was Sir Lancelot, 
The chivairic in the stories of King Arthur and the Round 
code Table (§ 185). As Sir Lancelot lies in death, a 

former companion addresses him in words which sum up the 
best in the chivairic code: “ ‘ Thou wert the courtliest knight 
that ever bare shield; and thou wert the truest friend to thy 
lover that ever bestrode horse; and thou wert the truest 
lover among sinful men that ever loved woman; and thou 


413 


Knighthood and Chivalry 

wert the kindest man that ever struck with sword; and 
thou wert the goodliest person that ever came among press 
of knights; and thou wert the meekest man, and the gentlest, 
that ever ate in hall among ladies; and thou wert the sternest 
knight to thy mortal foe that ever put spear in the rest. ,,, 

The all-absorbing passion for fighting led to the develop¬ 
ment of mimic warfare in the shape of jousts and tournaments. 
These exercises formed the medieval equivalent Jousts and 
of the Greek athletic games (§ 35) and the Ro- tournaments 
man gladiatorial shows (§ 96). The joust was a (294) 
contest between two knights; the tournament, between two 
bands of knights. The contests took place in a railed-off 



After a French manuscript of the early fourteenth century. Shows knights jousting 
with cronels on their lances. 


space, called the “ lists,” about which the spectators gathered. 
Each knight wore upon his helmet the scarf or color of his 
lady and fought with her eyes upon him. Victory went to 
the one who unhorsed his opponent or broke in the proper 
manner the greatest number of lances. The beaten knight 
forfeited horse and armor and had to pay a ransom to the 
conqueror. Sometimes he lost his life, especially when the 
participants fought with real weapons and not with blunted 
lances and pointless swords. The Church now and then 
tried to stop these performances, but they remained uni¬ 
versally popular until the close of the Middle Ages. 

Chivalry arose with feudalism and passed away only when 
the changed conditions of society made feudalism itself obso¬ 
lete. While chivalry lasted, it produced some improvement 



414 


Feudalism 


in manners, particularly by insisting on the sense of personal 
honor and by fostering greater regard for women (though 
influence of only for those of the upper class). It also de- 
chivairy veloped the idea that “rank confers obligations” 
(noblesse oblige ); in other words, the idea that one who is 
well-born .and powerful must act honorably and generously 
toward his associates. Our modern notion of the conduct 
befitting a “gentleman” goes back, in part, to the old chival- 
ric code. Chivalry expressed, however, simply the senti¬ 
ments of the warlike nobles. It was an aristocratic ideal. 
The knight despised and did his best to keep in subjection 
the toiling peasantry, upon whose backs rested the real 
burden of feudal society. 


134. Feudalism as a Form of Local Industry 


Western Europe under the Roman Empire had been filled 
with flourishing cities (§ 89). The Germanic invasions, fol- 
Decline of lowed by those of the Northmen, led to a grad- 
urban life U al d eca y 0 f trade and manufacturing, and hence 
of the cities in which such activities centered. As urban 
life declined, the mass of the population came to live more 
and more in isolated rural communities. This was the great 
economic feature of the early Middle Ages. 

An estate in land, when owned by a lord and occupied by 
dependent tenants, was called a manor. It naturally varied 
in size, according to the wealth of its lord. In 
England perhaps six hundred acres represented 
the extent of an average estate. Every noble had at least 
one manor; great nobles might have several manors, usually 
scattered throughout the country; and even the king de¬ 
pended on his many manors for the food supply of the court. 
England, during the period following the Norman Con¬ 
quest, contained more than nine thousand of these manorial 
estates. 

The lord reserved for his own use a part of the arable land 
of the manor. This was his ‘ ‘ demesne, ’ ’ or domain. The rest 


The manor 


Feudalism as a Form of Local Industry 415 



Plan of a Medieval Manor 

Showing the holdings in the common fields. 


















416 


Feudalism 


of the land he allotted to the peasants who were his tenants. 
They cultivated their holdings in common, according to the 
Common “open-field” system. A farmer, instead of hav- 
cuitivation of ing his land in one field, had it split up into a large 
iand arable number of small strips (usually about half an 
acre each) scattered over the manor, and sepa¬ 
rated, not by fences or hedges, but by banks of unplowed 
turf. The appearance of a manor, when under cultivation, 
has been likened to a vast checkerboard or a patchwork quilt. 
The reason for the intermixture of strips seems to have been 
to make sure that each farmer had a portion of both the 
good land and the bad. It is obvious that this arrangement 
compelled all the peasants to labor according to a common 
plan. A man had to sow the same kinds of crops as his 
neighbors, and to till and reap them at the same time. Agri¬ 
culture, therefore, was very unprogressive. 

Farmers did not know how to enrich the soil by the use of 
fertilizers and by a proper rotation of crops. Consequently, 
Farming they divided all the arable land into three parts, 

methods one 0 f w hich was sown with wheat or rye, and 

another with oats or barley, while the third was allowed to 
lie “fallow” (uncultivated), that it might recover its fertility. 
Eight or nine bushels of grain represented the average yield 
of an acre. Farm animals were small, for scientific breeding 
had not yet begun. Farm implements were few and clumsy. 
It took five men a day to reap and bind the harvest of two 
acres. 

Besides his holding of arable land, which in England 
averaged about thirty acres, each peasant had certain rights 
common use over the non-arable land of the manor. He 
of the non- could cut a limited amount of hay from the 
ara e an meadow. He could turn so many farm animals 
— cattle, geese, swine — on the waste. He also enjoyed the 
privilege of taking so much wood from the forest for fuel 
and building purposes. A peasant’s holding, which also 
included a house in the village, thus formed a complete 
outfit. 


The Village and Life of the Peasants 417 

135. The Village and Life of the Peasants 

The peasants on a manor lived close together in one or 
more villages. Their small, thatch-roofed, and one-roomed 
houses would be grouped about an open space a village de- 
(the ‘ ‘ green ’ ’), or on both sides of a single, narrow scribed 
street. The only important buildings were the parish church, 
the parsonage, a mill, if a stream ran through the manor, and 
possibly a blacksmith’s shop. The population of one of these 
little communities often did not exceed one hundred souls. 

A village in the Middle Ages had a regular body of officials. 
First came the headman, or reeve, who represented the peas¬ 
ants in their dealings with the lord of the manor. vm a ge 
Next came the constable, or beadle, whose duty officials 
it was to carry messages round the village, summon the 
inhabitants to meetings, and enforce the orders of the reeve. 
Then there was the poundkeeper, who seized straying ani¬ 
mals, the watchman, who guarded the flocks at night, and 
the village carpenter, blacksmith, and miller. These officials, 
in return for their services, received an allowance of land, 
which the villagers cultivated for them. 

The most striking feature of a medieval village was its self- 
sufficiency. The inhabitants tried to produce at home every¬ 
thing they required, in order to avoid the uncer- a village as 
tainty and expense of trade. The land gave them self-sufficing 
their food; the forest provided them with wood for houses 
and furniture. They made their own clothes of flax, wool, 
and leather. Their meal and flour were ground at the village 
mill, and their farm implements were manufactured at the 
village smithy. The chief articles which needed to be 
brought from some distant market were salt, used to salt 
down farm animals killed in autumn, iron for various tools, 
and millstones. Cattle, horses, and surplus grain also formed 
common objects of exchange between manors. 

Life in a medieval village was rude and rough. The peas¬ 
ants labored from sunrise to sunset, ate coarse fare, lived in 
huts, and suffered from frequent pestilences. They were 


418 


Feudalism 


often the helpless prey of the feudal nobles. If their lord 
happened to be a quarrelsome man, given to fighting with 
Hard lot of his neighbors, they might see their lands ravaged, 
the peasantry their ca ttle driven off, their village burned, and 
might themselves be slain. Even under peaceful condi¬ 
tions the narrow, shut-in life of the manor could not be other¬ 
wise than degrading. 

Yet there is another side to the picture. If the peasants 
had a just and generous lord, they probably led a fairly com- 
Aiieviations fortable existence. Except .when crops failed, 
of the they had an abundance of food, with wine or 

peasant’s lot c j^ er j- 0 drink. They shared a common life in the 
work of the fields, in the sports of the village green, and in 
the services of the parish church. They enjoyed many holi¬ 
days; it has been estimated that, besides Sundays, about 
eight weeks in every year were free from work. Festivities 
at Christmas, Easter, and May Day, at the end of plowing 
and the completion of harvest, relieved the monotony of the 
daily round of labor. 

136. Serfdom 


A medieval village usually contained several classes of 
There might be a number of freemen, who paid 
a fixed rent, either in money or produce, for the 
use of their land. A few slaves might also be 
found in the lord’s household or at work on his 
By this time, however, slavery had nearly died 
out in western Europe. Most of the peasants were serfs. 

Serfdom represented a stage between slavery and freedom. 
A slave belonged to his master; he was bought and sold 
Nature of like other chattels. A serf had a higher position 
serfdom than a slave, for he could not be sold apart from 
the land nor could his holding of land be taken from him. He 
was fixed to the soil. A serf ranked lower than a freeman, 
because he could not change his abode, nor marry outside the 
manor, nor bequeath his goods, without the permission of his 
lord. 


peasants. 

Freemen, 
slaves, and 
serfs 

demesne. 


Serfdom 


419 


The serf did not receive his land as a free gift; for the use of 
it he owed certain duties to his master. These took chiefly 
the form of personal services. He must labor on obligations 
the lord’s demesne for two or three days each of the serf 
week, and at specially busy seasons, such as plow- (322_323) 
ing and harvesting, he must do extra work. At least half his 
time was usually demanded by the lord. The serf had also 
to make certain payments, either in 
money or more often in grain, honey, 
eggs, or other produce. When he 
ground the wheat or pressed the grapes 
which grew on his land, he must use 
the lord’s mill, the lord’s wine-press, 
and pay the customary charge. 

Serfdom developed during the later 
centuries of the Roman Empire and in 
the early Middle Ages. It origin of 
was well established by serfdom 
the time of Charlemagne. Many serfs 
seem to have been the descendants of 
the tenants, both free and servile, who 
had worked the great Roman estates 
in western Europe (§90). The serf 
class was also recruited from the ranks 
of free Germans, whom the disturbed 
conditions of the age induced to seek the protection of a 
lord. 

Serfdom began to decline after the opening of the thir¬ 
teenth century, with the revival of trade and industry. More 
money thus came into circulation, so that the lord Decline of 
was now able to accept money payments from his serfdom 
serfs, in lieu of their personal services. Both parties gained 
by such an arrangement: the lord because hired labor was 
more efficient than forced labor on his domain, the serf be¬ 
cause he could now devote himself entirely to the cultivation 
of his own holding. In this way the manorial lord developed 
into the modern landlord, the proprietor of the soil, while 



Serf Warming His 
Hands 


After a twelfth-century 
manuscript in the British 
Museum. 
























420 


Feudalism 


The Black 
Death 


his former serfs became free tenant farmers who paid a fixed 
sum (rent) for the land they tilled. 

The decline of serfdom was hastened, strangely enough, as 
the result of perhaps the most terrible calamity that has ever 
afflicted mankind. About the middle of the 
fourteenth century a pestilence of Asiatic origin, 
now known to have been the bubonic plague, reached the 
West. The Black Death, so called because among its symp¬ 
toms were dark patches all over the body, moved steadily 
across Europe. The way for its ravages had been prepared 
by the unhealthful conditions of ventilation and drainage 
in villages and towns. After attacking Greece, Sicily, Italy, 
Spain, France, and Germany, the plague entered England 
in 1349, and within less than two years swept away probably 
half the population. 

The pestilence in England, as in other countries, caused a 
great scarcity of labor. Crops rotted in the ground for want 
Effects of the of hands to bring in the harvest, while sheep and 
Black Death ca ttle, with no one to care for them, strayed 
through the deserted fields. The free peasants who survived 
demanded and received higher wages. Even the serfs, whose 
labor was now more valued, found themselves in a better 
position. The lord of a manor, in order to keep his laborers, 
would often allow them to substitute money payments for 
personal services. When the serfs secured no concessions, 
they frequently took to flight and hired themselves to the 
highest bidder. All this went on in spite of numerous laws 
ordering workmen to accept the old rate of wages and for¬ 
bidding them to migrate in search of better employment. 

Not many years after the Black Death the restlessness 
and discontent among the peasants led to a serious outbreak. 

It was one of the few attempts at violent revolu¬ 
tion which the English working people have 
made. One of the inspirers of the movement was 
a wandering priest named John Ball. He went 
about preaching that all goods should be held in common 
and the distinction between lords and serfs wiped away. 


The 

Peasants’ 
Rebellion, 
1381 ( 330 ) 


Serfdom 


421 


“When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the 
gentleman?” asked John Ball. Uprisings occurred in nearly 
every part of England, but the one in Kent had most im¬ 
portance. The rioters marched on London and presented 
their demands to the youthful king, Richard II. He promised 
to abolish serfdom and to give them a free pardon. As soon, 
however, as Richard had gathered an army, he put down 
the revolt by force and hanged John Ball and about a hun¬ 
dred of his followers. 

A far more terrible uprising of the peasants against their 
masters occurred in France. This was the Jacquerie, so 
called from the popular name 
(Jacques Bonhommes) of French 
peasants. They raged The 
through the land, burn- jacquerie, 
ing the castles and 1358 (332) 
murdering the feudal lords. The 
movement had scarcely any rea¬ 
sonable purpose; it was an out¬ 
burst of blind passion. “When 
they were asked for what reason 
they acted so wickedly, they re¬ 
plied they knew not, but they did 
so because they saw others do it; 
and they thought that by this 
means they should destroy all the 
nobles and gentlemen in the world.” The nobles avenged 
themselves by slaughtering the peasants in great numbers. 

In spite of such setbacks, the decline of serfdom continued 
throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It had 
virtually disappeared in Italy, in many parts of Extinction 
France and Germany, and in England by the of serfdom 
dawn of modern times. Some European countries, however, 
kept serfdom much longer. Prussian, Austrian, and Russian 
serfs did not secure freedom until the nineteenth century. 

We have now learned something about feudalism as a 
form of local government and as a form of local industry. 



“When Adam Delved and 
Eve Span” 

After a manuscript of the time of 
John Ball. 















422 


Feudalism 


We have also studied the classes of feudal society — the war¬ 
like nobles and their retainers and the peaceful peasants, of 
Feudalism whom many were serfs. The forces opposed to 
and the feudalism made themselves felt more and more 
Church effectively as time went on. Among these forces 
must be included the Roman Church. As a universal and 
democratic organization, including men of all ranks of so¬ 
ciety, it was the very opposite of feudalism, a local and an 
aristocratic system. The work and influence of this Church 
will now engage our attention. 


For Explanation 


fief 

Peace of God 

tournament 

primogeniture 

Truce of God 

manor 

vassal 

moat 

demesne 

relief 

portcullis 

open-field system 

aids 

keep 

reeve 

homage 

dungeon 

serf 

fealty 

chivalry 

Black Death 

oath-helpers 

squire 

John Ball 

ordeal 

accolade 

Peasants' Rebellion 

judicial duel 

joust 

Jacquerie 


For Discussion 



1. “The real heirs of Charlemagne were from the first neither the kings 
of France nor those of Italy or Germany, but the feudal lords.” 
Comment on this statement. 

2. Why has feudalism been called “confusion roughly organized”? 

3. Contrast feudalism as a political system with (a) the ancient city-states, 
( b ) the Roman Empire, and (c) modern national states. 

4. What was the effect of feudalism on the sentiment of patriotism? 

5. Mention some feudal titles which survive in those of European nobles. 

6. Explain these phrases: “to be in hot water”; “to go through fire 
and water”; and “to haul over the coals.” 

7. Compare the oaths administered to witnesses in modern courts with 
medieval oaths. 

8. Why was war the usual condition of feudal society? 

9. Compare the “Peace of God” with the peace movement to-day. 

10. Mention some modern comforts and luxuries which were unknown in 
feudal castles. 


Serfdom 423 

11. What is the present meaning of the word “chivalrous”? How did it 
get that meaning? 

12. Why has chivalry been called “the blossom of feudalism”? 

13. Show that the serf was not a slave or a “hired man” or a rent-paying 
farmer. 

14. B is a vassal of A; C is a serf living on a manor belonging to A. Com¬ 
pare the obligations of B and C to A. 

15. Suggest some reasons for the prevalence of pestilences in the Middle 
Ages. Why was it impossible to check them? 

For Further Study 

1. Write an essay (400 words) on feudal society, using the following terms: 
lord, vassal, castle, keep, dungeon, tournament, joust, manor, and serf. 

2. Study the plan of Chateau Gaillard (page 408) and compare it with 
the restoration of the same castle (page 409). 

3. Read in Scott’s Ivanhoe the description of a tournament (chap, xii) 
and of a judicial duel (chap, xliii). 

4. Read Tennyson’s poem Sir Galahad. How does it present the ideal 
knight? 

5. Look up the derivation of the words homage, castle, chivalry, and 
manor. 

6. Study the plan of a medieval manor (page 415) and identify on it the 
lord’s demesne, the three open fields, the meadow, the woodland, the 
waste, and the village, with the mill and the parish church. 

7. Look up the origins of the terms acre and furlong. How were they 
derived from the practice of medieval agriculture? 


CHAPTER XVIII 


THE ROMAN CHURCH AND THE PAPACY 

It was not by military force, but by religious authority, that the founda¬ 
tions of civilized society were laid anew in the Dark Ages; in so far as old 
institutions reappear in medieval Christendom, they were for the most 
part modified or remodeled under religious influence. 

— William Cunningham 


137. The Roman Church 

The most important civilizing influence in western Europe 
during the early Middle Ages was the Roman Church. The 
Twofold Church performed a double task. On the one 
duties of hand, it gave the people religious instruction and 
the Church wa tched over their morals; on the other hand, 
it played an important part in secular affairs and provided a 
means of government. Because the Church thus combined 
ecclesiastical and civil duties, it was quite unlike modern 
religious organizations, whether Catholic or Protestant. 
Both sides of its activities deserve, therefore, to be con¬ 
sidered. 

The authority of the Church extended throughout western 
Europe. Italy and Sicily, the larger part of Spain, France, 
Territorial the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Bohemia, 
extent of Hungary, Poland, the British Isles, Denmark, 
the church Sweden, Norway, and Iceland yielded obedience 
to the pope at Rome. 

Membership in the Church was not a matter of free 
choice. All people, except Jews, were required to belong to 
The church it. A person joined the Church by baptism, a rite 
as universal usually performed in infancy, and remained in it 
as long as he lived. Every one was expected to accept the 

424 


Church Organization 425 

doctrines and practices of the Church, and any one attacking 
its authority was liable to punishment as a heretic. 

The existence of one Church in the western world furnished 
a bond of union between European peoples. The Church 
took no heed of political boundaries, for men of all The Church 
nationalities entered the ranks of the priesthood as inter- 
and joined the monastic orders. Even differ- natlonal 
ences of language counted for little in the Church, since 
Latin was the universal speech of the educated classes. One 
must think, then, of the Church as a great international so¬ 
ciety, presided over by the pope, and with its capital at Rome. 

The Church presented itself to the medieval man as essen¬ 
tial to his salvation. Through its officers it declared the 
meaning of the Scriptures and set forth Christian The “ gate of 
doctrine. It also administered the rites called heaven ” 
“sacraments/’ which were regarded as the indispensable 
means of saving souls. There were seven of these sacraments 
(baptism, confirmation, penance, the Lord’s Supper, or the 
Eucharist, extreme unction, holy orders, and matrimony). 
The Church thus appeared as the sole repository of religious 
knowledge and as the necessary mediator between God and 
man. It was the only “gate of heaven.” 

138. Church Organization 

During the early Middle Ages there were really just three 
classes of society: the nobles who fought; the peasants 
who worked; and the clergy who prayed. The The clergy 
clergy consisted of secular priests, who led ac¬ 
tive lives in the world (Latin sxculum), and of regular 
priests, or monks, who lived according to a monastic rule 
(Latin regula). 

Both classes of the clergy were distinguished from the laity 
by abstention from money-making activities, differences in 
dress, and the obligation of celibacy (§ 102). influence of 
Being unmarried, the clergy had no family cares; the clerg y 
being free from the necessity of earning a living, they could 
devote all their time and energy to the service of the Church. 


426 


The Roman Church and the Papacy 


They were almost the only persons of education; conse¬ 
quently, they conducted the schools, wrote the books, framed 
the laws, served as royal ministers, and, in general, acted 
as leaders and molders of public opinion. The clergy thus 
directed the higher life of a medieval community. 

An account of the clergy naturally begins with the parish 
priest, who had charge of a parish, the smallest division of 

Christendom. No 
one could act as a 

Parish priests priest 
(256-257) without 

the approval of the 
bishop, but the no¬ 
bleman who sup¬ 
ported the parish 
had the privilege 
of nominating can¬ 
didates for the po¬ 
sition. The priest 
derived his income 
from lands belong¬ 
ing to the parish, 
from tithes, and 
from voluntary 
contributions, but 
as a rule he re¬ 
ceived only a bare 
living. He was the 
one Church officer who came continually into touch with 
the common people. He baptized, married, and buried his 
parishioners, held a religious service (Mass) at least once a 
week, heard confessions, and imposed penances. He watched 
over all their deeds on earth and prepared them for the life 
to come. 

A group of parishes formed a diocese, over which a bishop 
presided. It was his business to look after the property 
belonging to the diocese, to hold the ecclesiastical courts, to 



A Bishop Ordaining a Priest 

After an English manuscript of the twelfth century. The 
bishop wears a miter and holds in his left hand the pastoral 
staff, or crosier. His right hand is extended in blessing over 
the priest’s head. 






























Church Jurisdiction 427 

visit the clergy, and to see that they did their duty. The 
bishop alone could administer the sacrament of confirmation, 
which gave one full Church fellowship, and the 
sacrament of holy orders, which admitted a per- Blshops 
son to the priesthood. He also performed the ceremonies at 
the consecration of a new church edifice or shrine. Since the 
Church held many estates on feudal tenure, the bishop was 
usually a territorial lord, owing a vassal’s obligations to the 
king or to some powerful noble for his land and himself ruling 
over vassals in different parts of the country. 

The archbishop stood above the bishop in rank. In Eng¬ 
land, for example, there were two archbishops, one residing 
at York and the other at Canterbury. The 
church which contained the official seat or throne Archblshops 
(Latin cathedra ) of a bishop or archbishop was called a ca¬ 
thedral. It was ordinarily the largest and most magnificent 
church in the diocese. 

139. Church Jurisdiction 

The Church had regular courts and a special system of 
“canon” law for the trial of offenders against its regulations. 
Many cases, which to-day would be decided ac- Ecclesiastical 
cording to the civil or criminal law of the State, in courts 
the Middle Ages came before the ecclesiastical courts. Since 
marriage was considered a sacrament, the Church took upon 
itself to decide what marriages were lawful. It forbade the 
union of first cousins, of second cousins, and of godparents 
and godchildren. It refused to sanction divorce, for whatever 
cause, if both parties at the time of marriage had been bap¬ 
tized Christians. The Church also dealt with inheritance 
under wills. All contracts made binding by oaths came 
under Church jurisdiction, because an oath was an appeal to 
God. The Church tried those who were charged with any 
sin against religion, including heresy, blasphemy, the taking 
of interest (usury), and the practice of witchcraft. Widows, 
orphans, and the families of pilgrims or crusaders also enjoyed 
the special protection of ecclesiastical courts. 


428 


The Roman Church and the Papacy 

The Church claimed the privilege of judging all cases 
which involved clergymen. This privilege was known as 
“ Benefit of “benefit of clergy.” No layman, it was declared, 
clergy” (258) ought to interfere with one who, by the sacra¬ 
ment of holy orders, had been dedicated to God. The de¬ 
mand of the Church to try its 
own officers, according to its own 
mild and intelligent laws, seems 
not unreasonable, when we remem¬ 
ber how rude were the methods of 
feudal justice (§ 130). 

An interesting illustration of the 
power of the Church is afforded by 
Right of the ri g ht of “sanctu- 
“sanctuary” ary.” Any lawbreaker 
(259) who fled to a church 

building enjoyed, for a limited time, 
the privilege of safe refuge. It was 
considered a sin against God to drag 
Sanctuary Knocker even the most wicked criminal from 

Durham Cathedral the altar. The most that could be 
To gain sanctuary at Durham done was to deny the refugee food, 
the north door. The knocker so that he might come forth volun- 

(made of bronze and dating from tarily. This privilege Of Seeking 
about 1125) still remains in its ' 1 . ° , 

place . sanctuary was not without social 

usefulness, for it gave time for angry 
passions to cool, thus permitting an investigation of the 
charges against an offender. 

Disobedience to the regulations of the Church might be 
followed by excommunication. This was a coercive measure 
Excommuni- which cut off the offender from membership in 
cation the Church. He could not attend religious serv¬ 

ices or enjoy the sacraments considered so necessary to sal¬ 
vation. If he died excommunicate, his body could not be 
buried in consecrated ground. By the law of the State he 
lost all civil rights and forfeited all his property. No one 
might speak to him, feed him, or shelter him. Such a terrible 




Monasticism 


429 


penalty was usually imposed only after the sinner had re¬ 
ceived a fair trial and had spurned all entreaties to repent. 

The interdict, another coercive measure, was directed 
against a particular locality, for the fault of some of the in¬ 
habitants who could not be reached directly. In Interdict 
time of interdict the priests closed the churches n er 1C 
and neither married the living nor buried the dead. All the 
inhabitants of the afflicted district were ordered to fast, as 
in Lent, and to let their hair grow long in sign of mourning. 
The interdict also stopped the wheels of government, for 
courts of justice were shut, wills could not be made, and pub¬ 
lic officials were forbidden to perform their duties. In some 
cases the Church went so far as to lay an interdict upon an en¬ 
tire kingdom, whose ruler had refused to obey her mandate 
(§ 146). The interdict has now passed out of use, but excom¬ 
munication still keeps a place among the spiritual weapons of 
the Roman Church. 

140. Monasticism 

The origin of monasticism must be sought in the need, 
often felt by deeply religious men, of withdrawing from the 
world — from its temptations and its pleasures The ascetic 
— to a life of solitude, prayer, and religious con- s P irit 
templation. Joined to this feeling has been the conviction 
that the soul may be purified by subduing the desires and 
passions of the body. Men, influenced by the ascetic spirit, 
sought a closer approach to God. 

The ascetic spirit in Christianity owed much to the exam¬ 
ple of its founder, who was himself unmarried, poor, and 
without a place “where to lay his head.” Some Earfy 
of the teachings of Jesus, taken literally, also Christian 
helped to emphasize the importance of asceti- ^®J icism 
cism. At a very early period there were Christian 
men and women who abstained from marriage and gave 
themselves up to devotional exercises and works of charity. 
They did this in their homes, without abandoning their 
families and human society. 


430 


The Roman Church and the Papacy 

Another ascetic movement began about the middle of 
the third century, when many Christians in Egypt withdrew 
The hermits into the desert to live as hermits. Some of the 
( 22 i) hermits, believing that pain and suffering had a 

spiritual value, went to extremes of self-mortification. They 
dwelt in walls, tombs, and on the summits of pillars, deprived 
themselves of necessary food and sleep, wore no clothing, and 
neglected to bathe or to care for the body in any way. 
Other hermits', who did not practice such austerities, spent 



After a Byzantine miniature in the Vatican. 

all day or all night in prayer. The examples of these recluses 
found many imitators in eastern lands. 

A life shut off from all contact with one's fellows is difficult 
and beyond the strength of ordinary men. The mere human 
Rule of st. need for social intercourse gradually brought the 
Basil (222) hermits together, at first in small groups and then 
in larger communities, or monasteries. The next step was to 
give the scattered monasteries a common organization and 
government. Those in the East gradually adopted the regu¬ 
lations which St. Basil, a leading churchman of the fourth 





















Monasticism 


431 


century, drew up for the guidance of the monks under his 
direction. St. Basil’s Rule, as it is called, still remains the 
basis of monasticism in the Oriental Churches. 

The monastic system in the Roman Church looked to 
St. Benedict as its organizer. While yet a young man 



St. Benedict had sought to escape from the vice about him 
by retiring to a cave in the Sabine hills near Rome. He lived 
here for three years as a hermit, shutting him- 0 „ 

,. „ . J °. St. Benedict 

self off from all human intercourse, wearing a 

hair shirt, and rolling in beds of thistles to subdue “the 

flesh.” St. Benedict’s experience of the hermit’s life con- 



















432 The Roman Church and the Papacy 

vinced him that there was a surer and better road to religious 
peace of mind. His fame as a holy man had attracted to 
him many disciples, and these he now began to group in 
monastic communities under his own supervision. St. Bene- 


Abbey of Saint-Germain des Pres, Paris 

This celebrated monastery was founded in the sixth century. Of the original 
buildings only the abbey church remains. The illustration shows the monastery 
as it was in 1361, with walls, towers, drawbridge, and moat. Adjoining the church 
were the cloister, the refectory, and the dormitory. 

diet’s most important monastery was at Monte Cassino, 
midway between Rome and Naples. It became the capital 
of monasticism in the West. 

To control the monks of Monte Cassino, St. Benedict 
Rule of st. framed a Rule, or constitution, which was mod- 
Benedict, eled in some respects upon the earlier Rule of 
St. Basil. The monks formed a sort of corpora¬ 
tion, presided over by an abbot, who held office for life. 










Life and Work of the Monks 433 

Every candidate for admission took the vow of obedience to 
the abbot. Any man, rich or poor, noble or peasant, might 
enter the monastery after a year’s probation; having once 
joined, however, he must remain a monk for the rest of his 
days. The monks were to live under strict discipline. They 
could not own any property; they could not go beyond the 
monastery walls without the abbot’s consent; and the 
amount of their food and clothing was determined for them 
by the abbot. A violation of the regulations brought punish¬ 
ment in the shape of private admonition, exclusion from 
common prayer, and, in extreme cases, expulsion. 


141. Life and Work of the Monks 


St. Benedict drew a sharp line between the monastic life 
and that of the outside world. He required that, as far as 
possible, each mon¬ 


form 


fl-x-r — 

| Church | 


♦ S9f 


I 


r*~ 


1 1 

A 

* y I ^ 

k Brothers 1 £ 

| „ P Q 

| £° orn | 


Cloister Garth 

tl! 

n * ay. • tegai am 


a_ 




i 


m 


astery should 
an inde- a monastic 
pendent, community 

self-supporting com¬ 
munity. As a mon¬ 
astery increased in 
wealth and number 
of inmates, it might 
come to form a very 
large establishment, 
covering many acres 
and presenting with¬ 
in its massive walls 
the appearance of a 
fortified town. 

The principal 
buildings of a Bene- 

dictine monastery of the larger sort were grouped around 
an inner court, called a cloister. These included a church, 
a refectory (dining room), a kitchen, a dormitory, where the 


* 

.4 


Plan of Kirkstall Abbey, Yorkshire 










434 The Roman Church and the Papacy 

monks slept, and a chapter house, where they transacted 
business. There were also a library, a school, a hospital, and 
The monas- a guest house for the reception of strangers, be- 
tery buildings sides barns, bakeries, laundries, workshops, and 
storerooms for provisions. Beyond these buildings lay vege¬ 
table gardens, orchards, grain fields, and often a mill, if the 
monastery was built on a stream. A high wall and ditch 

gave the monks the neces¬ 
sary seclusion and in time 
of danger protected them 
from attack. 

St. Benedict defined a 
monastery as “a school 
Monastic for the service 

occupations 0 f the Lord.” 

The monks under his Rule 
occupied themselves with 
a regular round of wor¬ 
ship, reading from the 
Bible, private prayer, and 
meditation. For most of 
the day, however, they 
worked with their hands, 
doing the necessary wash¬ 
ing and cooking for the 
monastery, raising the 
necessary supplies of vegetables and grain, and performing 
all the other tasks required to maintain a large establish¬ 
ment. This emphasis on labor, as a religious duty, was a 
characteristic feature of western monasticism. 

The Benedictine monks were a civilizing agency through¬ 
out the early Middle Ages. A monastery was at once a 
The monks model farm, an inn, a hospital, a school, and a 
as civilizers library. The monks cultivated their lands care¬ 
fully and so set an example of good farming wherever they 
settled. They entertained pilgrims and travelers, at a period 
when western Europe was almost destitute of inns. They 



A Monk Copyist 

After a manuscript in the British Museum, 
London. 












































Christian Missions in Western Europe 435 

performed many works of charity—feeding the hungry, heal¬ 
ing the sick who were brought to their doors, and distributing 
their medicines freely to those who needed them. They 
trained in their schools boys who wished to become priests 
and also those who intended to lead active lives in the world. 
The monks, too, were the only scholars of the age. By 
copying the manuscripts of ancient authors, they preserved 
valuable books that would otherwise have been lost. By 
keeping records of the most striking events of their time, 
they acted as chroniclers of medieval history. The monks 
were also missionaries to the heathen peoples of Europe. 

142. Christian Missions in Western Europe 

Christianity first reached the Germanic invaders in its 
Arian form (§ 104). Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals, Bur¬ 
gundians, and Lombards were all Arians. The Reconversion 
Roman Church regarded them as heretics and of the Arian 
labored with success to reconvert them. This Germans 
work was at last completed when the Lombards, in the 
seventh century, accepted the Catholic faith. 

The Franks and the Anglo-Saxons, whose kingdoms were 
to develop into the chief states of medieval Europe, adopted 
from the outset the Catholic form of Christianity. Conversion 
The conversion of the Franks provided the Ro- 0 f the Franks 
man Church with its strongest and most faithful g^ 0 ^ gl °" 
adherents among the Germans (§ 115). The 
conversion of Anglo-Saxon Britain (§ 120) firmly united that 
island to the Papacy. 

Augustine and his monks were not the first missionaries to 
Britain. Roman soldiers, merchants, and evangelists had 
introduced Christianity among the Britons as Christianity 
early as the second century. During the fifth among the 
century the famous St. Patrick had carried Chris- ^ 3 a ‘h“ 0) Celts 
tianity to the Irish. The Anglo-Saxon invasion 
of Britain drove many Christians to Ireland, which in the 
sixth and seventh centuries became a center from which 


436 


The Roman Church and the Papacy 

zealous monks went forth to labor in Scotland. After the 
conversion of the Anglo-Saxons the Celtic Christians in 
Wales, Scotland, and Ireland became faithful children of the 
Roman Church. 

An Anglo-Saxon monk, St. Boniface, did more than any 
one else to bring Christianity to the remote tribes of Ger- 
christianity many. The pope created him a missionary 
heathen* 16 bishop an d ordered him to “carry the word of 
Germans God to unbelievers.” St. Boniface also enjoyed 
(249-250) the support of the Frankish rulers. Thanks to 
their assistance, this intrepid monk was able to penetrate 
into the heart of Germany. Here he labored for nearly 
forty years, preaching, baptizing, and founding numerous 
churches, monasteries, and schools. His boldness in attack¬ 
ing heathenism is illustrated by the story of how he cut 
down with his own hands a certain oak tree, much rever¬ 
enced by the natives of Hesse as sacred to the god Woden, 
and out of its wood built a chapel dedicated to St. Peter. 
St. Boniface crowned a lifetime of missionary labor with a 
martyr’s death. His work was continued by Charlemagne, 
who forced the Saxons to accept Christianity at the point 
of the sword (§117). All Germany at length became a 
Christian land, devoted to the Papacy. 

143. The Friars 

The history of Christian monasticism exhibits an ever- 
widening social outlook. The hermits had devoted them- 
Coming of selves, as they believed, to the service of God by 
the friars retiring to the desert for prayer, meditation, and 
bodily mortification. St. Benedict’s Rule marked a change 
for the better. It did away with extreme forms of self-denial, 
brought the monks together in a common house, and re¬ 
quired them to engage in daily manual labor. The Benedic¬ 
tine system, however, had its limitations. The monks lived 
apart from the world and sought chiefly the salvation of 
their own souls. A new conception of the religious life arose 


The Friars 


437 


early in the thirteenth century, with the coming of the friars. 
They responded to the new needs of the age. The thirteenth 
century was marked by a great growth of cities (§ 176), 
whose crowded inhabitants required spiritual and moral min¬ 
istrations that could not be supplied by the parish priests. 
The aim of the friars was,, therefore, social service. They took 
an active part in affairs and devoted themselves entirely to 
the salvation of others. The foundation of the orders of 
friars was the work of two men, St. Francis in Italy and St. 
Dominic in Spain. 

St. Francis was the son of a prominent merchant of Assisi. 
The young man had before him the prospect of a fine career, 
but before long he put away all thoughts of riches st Francis> 
and honor, deserted his gay companions, and, usi_g" 1226 
choosing “Lady Poverty” as his bride, started (273 } 

out to minister to lepers and social outcasts. One day the 
call came to him to preach the gospel, as Jesus had preached 
it, among the poor and lowly. The man’s earnestness and 
charm of manner soon drew about him devoted followers. 
After some years St. Francis went to Rome and obtained 
the pope’s sanction of his work. The Franciscan order 
spread so rapidly that even in the founder’s lifetime there 
were several thousand members in Italy and other Kuropean 
countries. 

St. Francis went about doing good. In many ways he was 
a true child of the Middle Ages. An ascetic, he fasted, wore 
a haircloth shirt, mixed ashes with his food to personality 
make it disagreeable, wept daily, so that his eye¬ 
sight was nearly destroyed, and every night flogged himself 
with iron chains. A mystic, he lived so close to God and 
nature that he could include within the bonds of his love not 
only men and women, but also animals, trees, and flowers. 
He preached a sermon to the birds and once wrote a hymn 
to praise God for his “brothers,” sun, wind, and fire, and for 
his “sisters,” moon, water, and earth. When told that he 
had but a short time to live, he exclaimed, Welcome, Sister 
Death!” He died at the age of forty-five, worn out by his 


438 


The Roman Church and the Papacy 


exertions and self-denial. Two years later the pope made 
him a saint. 

St. Dominic, unlike St. Francis, was a clergyman and a 
student of theology. After being ordained, he went to south- 
st. Dominic, ern France and labored for ten years among the 
1170-1221 heretics in this region. The order of Dominicans 
grew out of the little band of volunteers who assisted him 
in the mission. St. Dominic sent his followers — at first 
only sixteen in number — out into the world to combat 
heresy. They met with great success, and at the founder's 
death the Dominicans had as many as sixty friaries in vari¬ 
ous European cities. 

The Franciscans and Dominicans resembled each other in 
many ways. They were ‘‘ itinerant,’ ’ going on foot from place 
Character- to pl ace > an d wearing coarse robes tied round the 

isticsofthe waist with a rope. They were “mendicants,” 

who possessed no property but lived on the alms 
of the charitable. They were also preachers, who spoke to 
their congregations, not in Latin, but in the language of each 
country which they visited. The Franciscans worked espe¬ 
cially in the slums of the cities; the Dominicans addressed 
themselves rather to educated people and the upper classes. 
As time went on, they relaxed the rule of poverty and be¬ 
came very wealthy. Both orders still survive, scattered 
all over the world and employed as teachers and mission¬ 
aries. 

The friars by their preaching and teaching did a great deal 
to call forth a religious revival in Europe during the thir- 
The friars teenth century. In particular, they helped to 
and the strengthen the papal authority. Both orders 

Papacy received the sanction of the pope; both enjoyed 
many privileges at his hands; and both looked to him for 
direction. The pope employed them to raise money, to 
preach crusades, and to impose excommunications and inter¬ 
dicts. The Franciscans and Dominicans formed, in fact, 
the agents of the Papacy. 


The Papacy 

144. The Papacy 


439 


A church in Rome must have been established at an early 
date, for it was to Roman Christians that St. Paul addressed 
one of the Epistles now in the New Testament. _ 

Rome an 

St. Paul visited Rome, as we know from the Acts apostolic 
of the Apostles , and there he is said to have suf- ^ rch (213, 
fered martyrdom. Christian tradition declared 
that St. Peter also labored in Rome, where he served as 
first bishop, or pope (Latin papa), of the church and where 
he, too, met a martyr’s death. To the early Christians the 
Roman Church was especially sacred, for they believed that 
it had been founded by the two greatest apostles and had 
been nourished by their blood. 

Rome, the largest and most flourishing city in the empire 
and the seat of the imperial government, naturally became 
the center from which Christianity spread over Rome a 
the western provinces. Many of the first Chris- “ mother- 
tian communities planted in Spain, Gaul, and c urc 
Africa owed their start to the missionary zeal of the popes. 
As a “mother-church,” Rome enjoyed a superior position 
among the churches of the West. 

The independence of the Roman Church also fostered its 
development. The bishop of Rome was the only patriarch 
(§ 102) in the West, and as such he ranked above The Roman 
the bishops of the other western churches. Fur- church in- 
thermore, the removal of the capital from Rome 
to Constantinople helped to free the Roman 
bishop from the close oversight of the imperial government. 
He was able, henceforth, to promote the interests of the 
church under his control without much interference on the 
part of the emperor at Constantinople. 

The development of the Roman Church was aided by its 
attitude on disputed questions of belief. While The Roman 
Christendom in the East was torn by theological Churchy 
disputes, the Church of Rome stood firmly by ort 0 “ 
the Creed of Niaea (§ 104). After Arianism and other heresies 


440 The Roman Church and the Papacy 

were finally condemned, orthodox Christians in the West 
felt indebted to the Roman Church for its unwavering cham¬ 
pionship of “the faith once delivered to the saints.” They 
were all the more ready, therefore, to defer to it in matters 
of doctrine and to accept its spiritual authority. 

The most eminent of the early popes was Leo the Great. 
When he became bishop of Rome, the Germans were over- 
Pontmcate running the western provinces of the Roman Em- 
of Leo i, pire. The invaders professed the Arian faith, as 
440-461 we have seen, and often persecuted the orthodox 
Christians among whom they settled. At such a time, when 
the imperial power was growing weaker, faithful Catholics in 
the West naturally turned for support to the bishop of Rome 
as their champion against the barbarians. Tradition declares 
that Leo succeeded in diverting Attila from an attack on 
Rome, and when the Vandals sacked the city, Leo also inter¬ 
vened to prevent its destruction (§§ 109, 110). 

No important name occurs in the list of popes after Leo the 
Great until we come to Gregory the Great. The work of 
Pontificate of Gregory lay principally in two directions. As a 
Gregory i, statesman he did much to make the popes virtual 
sovereigns at Rome and in Italy. At this time 
the Italian peninsula, overrun by the Lombards and neg¬ 
lected by the Eastern emperor, was in a deplorable con¬ 
dition. The bishop of Rome seemed to be the only man 
who could protect the people and maintain order. Gregory 
had conspicuous success in this task. It was largely owing 
to his efforts that the Lombards were prevented from con¬ 
quering central Italy (§ 114). Gregory was no less eminent 
as a churchman. We find him sternly repressing heresies 
wherever they arose, aiding the conversion of Arian Visi¬ 
goths in Spain and Arian Lombards in Italy, and sending 
out monks as missionaries to distant Britain (§ 120). 

When Gregory the Great closed his remarkable career, the 
Position of Papacy had reached a commanding place in west- 
the Papacy ern Christendom. The popes had now begun to 
add to their spiritual authority some measure of temporal 


441 


Power of the Papacy 

power at Rome and in Italy. During the eighth century 
the alliance of the popes and the Franks (§ 116) helped 
further to establish the 
Papacy as an ecclesias¬ 
tical monarchy, ruling 
over both the souls and 
bodies of men. 

The claim of the 
popes to supremacy 
over Chris- The “ Petrine 
tians had a theor y ” 
double basis. First, 
certain passages in the 
New Testament, where 
St. Peter is called the 
rock on which the 
Church is built, the 
pastor of the sheep 
and lambs of the Lord, 
and the doorkeeper of 
the kingdom of heaven, 
were understood to 
imply his primacy, or 
headship, over the 
other apostles. Sec¬ 
ond, it was argued that St. Peter, as the first bishop (pope) 
of Rome, had passed to his successors in that office all his 
dignity and authority. As St. Peter was the chief of the 
Twelve Apostles, so the popes were to be chiefs of bishops 
everywhere. There is a question whether this “Petrine the¬ 
ory” was ever fully admitted by Christians in the East, but 
by those in the West it was accepted during the Middle Ages. 

145. Power of the Papacy 

The pope was the supreme lawgiver of the Church. His 
decrees might not be set aside by any other person. He 



The Spiritual and the Temporal Power 


A tenth-century mosaic in the church of St. John, 
Rome. It represents Christ giving to St. Peter the 
keys of heaven, and to Constantine the banner sym¬ 
bolic of earthly dominion. 











442 


The Roman Church and the Papacy 


made new laws in the form of “bulls, ” and by his “dispensa¬ 
tions’’ could in particular cases set aside old laws, such as 
The pope’s those forbidding cousins to marry or monks to 
authority obtain release from their vows. The pope was 
also the supreme judge of the Church, for all appeals from 
the lower ecclesiastical courts came before him for decision. 
Finally, the pope was the supreme administrator of the 
Church. He confirmed the election of both bishops and 
archbishops, deposed them, when necessary, or transferred 
them from one diocese to another. The pope also controlled 
the monastic orders and called general councils of the 
Church. 

The authority of the pope was commonly exercised by the 
“legates,” whom he sent out as his representatives at the 
„ ,, various European courts. These officers kept 

Papal legates 1 1 

the pope in close touch with the condition of the 
Church in every part of western Europe. A similar function 
is performed in modern times by the papal ambassadors 
known as “nuncios.” 

For assistance in government the pope made use of the 
cardinals, who formed a board, or “college.” They were 
selected at first only from the clergy of Rome 
and the vicinity, but in course of time the pope 
opened the cardinalate to prominent churchmen in all coun¬ 
tries. At the death or resignation of a pope the cardinals 
had the right of electing his successor. 

The pope was a temporal sovereign, ruling over Rome and 
the States of the Church (§ 116). These possessions included 
states of the during the Middle Ages the greater part of cen- 
Church tral Italy. The pope did not lose them altogether 
until the formation of the present Italian kingdom, in the 
second half of the nineteenth century. 

To support the business of the Papacy and to maintain 
the splendor of the papal court required a large annual in- 
income of come. This came partly from the States of the 
the Papacy Church, partly from the gifts of the faithful, and 
partly from the payments made by abbots, bishops, and arch- 


Cardinals 


443 


Popes and Emperors 

bishops when the pope confirmed their election to office. 
Still another source of revenue consisted of “Peter’s Pence,” 
a tax of a penny on each hearth. It was collected every year 
in England and in some Continental countries until the 
close of the Middle Ages. The modern “Peter’s Pence” is 
a voluntary contribution made by Roman Catholics in all 
countries. 

Rome, the Eternal City, from which in ancient times so 
much of the world had been ruled, was the capital of the 
Papacy. Few traces now remain of the medieval The capital 
city. Old St. Peter’s Church, where Charle- of the Pa P ac y 
magne was crowned emperor, gave way in the sixteenth 
century to the famous structure that now occupies its site. 
The Lateran Palace, which for more than a thousand years 
served as the residence of the popes, has also disappeared, 
its place being taken by a new and smaller building. The 
pope now lives in the splendid palace of the Vatican, adjoin¬ 
ing St. Peter’s. 

146. Popes and Emperors 

The powers exercised by the popes during the Middle 
Ages were not secured without a struggle. As a matter of 
fact, the concentration of authority in papal The Papacy 
hands was a gradual development covering sev- and the 
eral hundred years. The pope reached his ex- Empire 
alted position only after a long contest with the Holy Roman 
Emperor. 

Otto the Great in 962 restored imperial rule in the West, 
thus founding what in later centuries came to be known as the 
Holy Roman Empire (§ 119). Otto made the 0 ttothe 
city of Rome the imperial capital, deposed a Great and 
pope who proved disobedient to his wishes, and the Papacy 
on his own authority appointed another. At the same time 
Otto exacted from the people of Rome an oath that they 
would never recognize any pope to whose election the em¬ 
peror had not consented. 

Otto’s successors repeatedly interfered in elections to the 


444 The Roman Church and the Papacy 


and Otto’s 
successors 


Papacy. One strong German ruler, Henry III, has been 
called the “ pope-maker/ ’ Early in his reign he set aside 
The Papacy three rival claimants to the Papacy, creating a 
German bishop pope, and on three subsequent 
occasions filled the papal throne by fresh ap¬ 
pointments. It was clear that if this situation continued 
much longer the Papacy would become simply an imperial 
office; it would be merged in the Empire. 

The death of Henry III, which left the Empire in weak 
hands, gave the Papacy a chance to escape the control of the 
Papal elec- secular power. In 1059 a church council held at 
tion by the the Lateran Palace decreed that henceforth the 
right of choosing the supreme pontiff should be¬ 
long exclusively to the cardinals, who represented the clergy 
of Rome. This arrangement tended to prevent any inter¬ 
ference with the election of popes, either by the Roman 
people or by foreign sovereigns. 

The Papacy now began to deal with a grave problem which 
affected the Church at large. With the growth of feudalism 
Feudalizing many bishops, abbots, and other high dignitaries 
of the church had become vassals, holding their lands as fiefs of 
princes, kings, and emperors, and owing the usual feudal 
dues. Their lords expected them to perform the ceremony 
of homage before “investing” them with the lands at¬ 
tached to the bishopric or monastery. One can readily see 
that in practice the lords really chose the bishops and abbots, 
since they could always refuse to “invest” those who were 
displeasing to them. 

Lay investiture seemed intolerable to the reformers in the 
Church. How could the Church keep itself unspotted from 
Lay invest!- world when its highest officers were chosen by 
ture from laymen and were compelled to perform unpriestly 
duties? In the act of investiture the reformers 
also saw the sin of simony — the sale of sacred 
powers — because there was such a temptation before the 
candidate for a bishopric or abbacy to buy the position with 
promises or with money. 


the Church 
standpoint 


Popes and Emperors 


445 


The lords, on the other hand, believed that as long as 
bishops and abbots held vast estates on feudal tenure they 
should continue to perform the obligations of 
vassalage. To forbid lay investiture was to de- ^efromtte 
prive the lords of all control over Church dig- secular stand- 
nitaries. The real difficulty of the situation P ° mt 
existed, of course, in the fact that the bishops and abbots 
were both spiritual officers and temporal rulers, were servants 
of both the Church and the State. They found it very 
difficult to serve two masters. 

The throne of St. Peter was occupied at this time by Hilde¬ 
brand, one of the most remarkable of the popes. Of obscure 
Italian birth, he received his education in a Bene- Pontificate of 
dictine monastery at Rome and rose rapidly to a Gregory vn, 
position of great influence in papal affairs. On 1073 “ 1085 
becoming pope he assumed the name of Gregory VII. He is 
described as a small man, ungainly in appearance and with a 
weak voice, but energetic, forceful, and of imperious will. 

Gregory soon issued a decree against lay investiture. It 
declared that no emperor, king, duke, marquis, count, or 
any other lay person should presume to grant Decree 
investiture, under pain of excommunication, against lay 
This decree was a general one, applying to all mvestlture 
states of western Europe, but circumstances were such that 
it mainly affected Germany. 

Henry IV, the ruler of Germany at this time, did not refuse 
the papal challenge. He wrote a famous letter to Gregory, 
calling him “no pope but false monk,” telling him Henry IV 
Christ had never called him to the priesthood, and Gregory 
and bidding him “come down,” “come down” vn (281) 
from St. Peter’s throne. Gregory, in reply, deposed Henry as 
emperor, excommunicated him, and freed his subjects from 
their allegiance. 

This severe sentence made a profound impression in Ger¬ 
many. Henry’s supporters fell away, and it seemed probable 
that the German nobles would elect another ruler in his stead. 
Henry then decided on abject submission. He hastened 


446 The Roman Church and the Papacy 

across the Alps and found the pope at the castle of Canossa, 
on the northern slopes of the Apennines. It was January, and 
the snow lay deep on the ground. The emperor 
canossa, 1077 f or three days shivering outside the castle 

gate, barefoot and clad in a coarse woolen shirt, the garb of a 
penitent. At last, upon the entreaties of the Countess Ma¬ 
tilda of Tuscany, Gregory ad¬ 
mitted Henry and granted him 
absolution. 

The dramatic scene at Ca¬ 
nossa did not end the investi¬ 
ture conflict. It 
dragged on for half 
a century after 
Gregory’s death. At length 
the opposing parties agreed to 
what is known as the Concor¬ 
dat of Worms, from the old 
German city where it was 
signed. This agreement drew 
a distinction between spiritual 
and lay investiture. The em¬ 
peror gave up investiture by 
the ring and crosier — the em¬ 
blems of spiritual authority — 
and permitted bishops and ab¬ 
bots to be elected by the clergy and confirmed in office by 
the pope. The pope, on the other hand, recognized the 
emperor’s right to be present at all elections and to invest 
bishops and abbots by the scepter for whatever lands they 
held within his domains. The Concordat of Worms was thus 
a compromise between the extreme claims of the Papacy 
on the one side and of the Holy Roman Empire on the other 
side. A similar compromise was adopted in France, England, 
and other countries of western Europe. The investiture con¬ 
flict then ended. 

The Papacy reached the height of its spiritual power under 



Henry IV, Countess Matilda, 
and Gregory VII 

After a manuscript of the twelfth century, 
now in the Vatican Library at Rome. 



















Popes and Emperors 


447 


Innocent III. The eighteen years of his pontificate were 
one long effort, for the most part successful, to make the 
pope the arbiter of Europe. Innocent announced Pontificate of 
the claims of the Papacy in the most uncompro- innocent m, 
mising manner. ‘ ‘ As the moon, ’ ’ he declared, ‘ ‘ re- 1198-1216 
ceives its light from the sun, and is inferior to the sun, so do 
kings receive all their glory and dignity from the Holy See.” 
This meant, according to Innocent, that the pope has the 
right to judge the conduct of secular rulers in its moral as¬ 
pect. “God,” he continued, “has set the Prince of the 
Apostles over kings and kingdoms, with a mission to tear 
up, plant, destroy, scatter, and rebuild.” 

Innocent’s claims were not idle boasts. When Philip Au¬ 
gustus, king of France, divorced his wife and made another 
marriage, Innocent declared the divorce void and Innocent and 
ordered him to take back his discarded queen. KingPhmp 
Philip refused, and Innocent put France under ° 283 ) ance 
an interdict (§ 139). From that hour all religious ( 
rites ceased. The church doors were barred; the church bells 
were silent, the sick died unshriven, the dead lay unburied. 
Philip, deserted by his retainers, was compelled to submit. 

Innocent, on another occasion, ordered John, the English 
king, to accept as archbishop of Canterbury a man of the 
pope’s choosing. When John declared that he i nno centand 
would never allow the papal appointee to set King John of 
foot on English soil, Innocent replied by excom- England 
municating him and laying his kingdom under an interdict. 
John also had to yield and went so far as to surrender England 
and Ireland to the pope, receiving them back again as fiefs, 
for which he promised to pay a yearly rent. This tribute 
money was actually paid, though irregularly, for about a cen¬ 
tury and a half. 

The popes after Innocent continued to press upon the 
rulers of Europe their claims to spiritual and moral over¬ 
lordship. They also kept up the long struggle against the 
Holy Roman emperors, who wanted to take over the States 
of the Church, thus uniting all Italy under German sway. 


448 The Roman Church and the Papacy 

The popes naturally opposed such a program, which would 
have meant their complete dependence upon a foreign power. 

Finally, Rudolf of Hapsburg, who had been 
the Papacy chosen Holy Roman Emperor m 1273, gave up 
over the a n pretensions to rule in Italy and recompensed 
himself through the conquest of Austria (§ 174). 
It was in this way that the Hapsburgs became an Austrian 
dynasty. The Holy Roman Empire had now become little 
more than a name. Germany was broken up into a mass 
of duchies, counties, archbishoprics, and free cities. These 
small feudal states did not combine under a strong govern¬ 
ment until the nineteenth century. Italy likewise remained 
disunited and lacked even a common monarch. Such were 
the consequences of the triumph of the Papacy over the 
Empire. 

147. The Church and Medieval Society 

Medieval society, we have now learned, owed much to the 
Church, as both a teacher of religion and morals and an 
The Church agency of government. It remains to ask what 
and warfare was the attitude of the Church toward the social 
and economic problems of the Middle Ages. In regard to 
private warfare, the prevalence of which formed one of the 
greatest evils of the time, the Church, in general, cast its 
influence on the side of peace. It deserves credit for estab¬ 
lishing the Peace and the Truce of God (§131) and for many 
efforts to heal strife between rulers and nobles. The Church 
did not carry its pacific policy so far as to condemn war¬ 
fare against heretics and infidels. Christians believed it a 
religious duty to exterminate these enemies of God. 

The Church was distinguished for charitable work. It 
distributed large sums to the needy. It also multiplied 
The church hospitals, orphanages, and asylums. Medieval 
and charity charity, however, was very often injudicious. 
The problem of removing the causes of poverty seems never 
to have been raised; and the indiscriminate giving multi¬ 
plied, rather than reduced, the number of beggars. 


The Church and Medieval Society 449 

Neither slavery nor serfdom, into which slavery gradually 
passed, was ever pronounced unlawful by pope or Church 
council. The Church condemned slavery only The Church 
when it was the servitude of a Christian in and slavery 
bondage to a Jew or an infidel. Abbots, bishops, and serfdom 
and popes possessed slaves and serfs. The serfs of some 
wealthy monasteries were counted by thousands. The 
Church, nevertheless, encouraged the freeing of bondmen 
and always preached the duty of kindness and forbearance 
toward them. 

The Church also helped to promote the cause of human 
freedom by insisting on the natural equality of all men in the 
sight of God. “The Creator,” wrote one of the Democracy 
popes, “distributes his gifts without regard to of the church 
social classes. In his eyes there are neither nobles nor serfs.” 
The Church gave practical expression to this attitude by 
opening the priesthood and monastic orders to every one, 
whether high-born or low-born, whether rich or poor. 
Naturally enough, the Church attracted the keenest minds 
of the age, a fact which largely explains the influence exerted 
by the clergy during medieval times. 

Christianity was not the only great religion of the Middle 
Ages. In the seventh century, before all Europe had be¬ 
come Christian, another religion arose. It grew The menace 
with marvelous rapidity and promised for a time to christen- 
to become the prevailing faith of the world. This dom 
was Islam, or Mohammedanism, the religion of the Arabs. 


parish 

diocese 

tithes 

cathedral 

ordination 

benefit of clergy 

right of sanctuary 

excommunication 

interdict 

hermit 


For Explanation 

Rule of St. Basil 
Monte Cassino 
Rule of St. Benedict 
St. Patrick 
St. Boniface 
friar 

St. Francis 
St. Dominic 
patriarch 
Petrine theory 


Gregory the Great 
papal bull 
legate 

Peter’s Pence 
lay investiture 
Gregory VII 
Henry IV 
Canossa 

Concordat of Worms 
Innocent III 


450 


The Roman Church and the Papacy 

For Discussion 

1. Mention some respects in which the Roman Church in the Middle 
Ages differed from any religious society of the present day. 

2. Distinguish between the faith of the Church, the organization of the 
Church, and the Church as a force in history. 

3. “Medieval Europe was a camp with a church in the background.” 
Comment on this statement. 

4. “The monk was an agent of enlightenment and a spiritual influence; 
but he was also a social power.” Explain this statement. 

5. “The monks and the friars were the militia of the Church.” Com¬ 
ment on this statement. 

6 . How did the Franciscans and the Dominicans supplement each other’s 
work? 

7. Why did not such an institution as the Papacy develop in the East? 

8 . What were some of the reasons for the influence exerted by the popes 
during the Middle Ages? 

9. Why has the medieval Papacy been called the “ghost” of the Roman 
Empire? 

10. Explain the significance of the investiture controversy. 

11. Who is the present pope? When and by whom was he elected? In 
what city does he reside? What is his residence called? 

For Further Study 

1. Determine on the map (between pages 426-427) what parts of Europe 
were Christianized before 800, between 800-1100, and after 1100. 
Trace the boundary between the Greek Church and the Roman 
Church. 

2. Look up the original meaning of the words monk, hermit, abbot, and 
friar. 

3. Read Tennyson’s poem, St. Simeon Stylites. How does it represent 
the character of this hermit? 

4. Describe the medieval abbey of Saint-Germain des Pres, Paris (illus¬ 
tration, page 432). 

5. Write a letter, supposedly from the abbot of Monte Cassino to the 
new abbot of Saint-Germain des Pres, giving him suggestions as to 
his duties and responsibilities. 

6 . Look up in a history of England the account of the murder of Thomas 
Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, and report how this crime was 
punished. 

7. Make a list of the functions of the medieval Church which are now 
performed for the people by the government or by the community. 


451 


The Church and Medieval Society 

Supplementary 

Webster, Readings in Early European History, chapter xxvi, “The Bene¬ 
dictine Rule”; chapter xxviii, “St. Boniface, the Apostle to the Ger¬ 
mans”; chapter xxxiii, “Monastic Life in the Twelfth Century”; 
chapter xxxiv, “St. Francis and the Franciscans.” 

Webster and Webb, Historical Outline Maps and Exercises: Early Euro¬ 
pean History, No. XVII, Christianity in the Middle Ages (to 1273). 



An Abbot’s Seal 

The seal of Abbot Samson, head of the monastery of 
St. Edmundsbury, England, 1182-1212. 



CHAPTER XIX 


THE ARABS AND ISLAM 

These Arabs, the man Mahomet, and that one century, is it not as if a 
spark had fallen, one spark, on a world that seemed black unnoticeable 
sand, but lo, the sand proves explosive powder, blazes heaven-high from 
Delhi to Granada! 

— Thomas Carlyle 

Instead of repining that Mahomet did no more, we have reason to be 
astonished that he did so much. His career is the best example that can 
be given of the influence of the Individual in human history. That single 
man created the glory of his nation and spread his language over half the 
earth. 

— Winwood Reade 

148. Arabia and the Arabs 

Arabia during ancient times had appeared in history 
mainly as a reservoir of Semitic-speaking tribes, who drifted 
The Arabian into Egypt, along the eastern shores of the Medi- 
peninsuia terranean, and into Babylonia, yet always leav¬ 
ing other tribes behind them to supply fresh invasions in the 
future. The peninsula is more than one-third the size of the 
United States (excluding Alaska), but it has never supported 
a large population. The interior, except for occasional oases, 
is a desert, inhabited only by nomads. Along the southern 
and western coasts, between the mountains and the sea, the 
soil is generally fertile, the climate temperate, and the rainfall 
sufficient. Here the chief cities and towns are located. 

The Bedouin Arabs, by which name the nomads of the 
desert are known, claim Ishmael, the son of Abraham and 
half-brother of Isaac, as their ancestor. The life which 
they lead in the Arabian wilderness closely resembles that 
of the Hebrew patriarchs, as described in the Old Testa- 

452 


The chief sanctuary of Mecca is the building called the Kaaba, which lies in the center of a vast courtyard surrounded by a colonnade. The 
Kaaba is here seen covered with a heavy black cloth renewed each year. Pilgrims enter the courtyard, walk around the Kaaba seven 
times — seven is a holy number in Islam — and kiss the sacred black stone fixed in the walls of the structure. The stone is now broken into 
pieces, which are kept together by a silver setting. The Kaaba has been rebuilt several times since the days of Mohammed, but it still 
preserves the old form of a heathen temple. 


Arabia and the Arabs 


453 


M 

O 

O 

> 























































































454 


The Arabs and Islam 


ment. The Bedouins are shepherds and herdsmen, contin¬ 
ually moving with their sheep, cattle, horses, and camels 
The Bedouins from one pasturage and water-hole to another, 
of the desert Their virtues — hospitality to the stranger, gen¬ 
erosity, faithfulness to the ties of kinship — are those of a 
nomadic, barbarian people. Such also are their vices — 
love of fighting and plunder, revengefulness, and impatience 
of restraint. Nothing like a settled government is known 
to them. The only tribal authority is that of the chief, 
or “sheik,” who, because of his birth, courage, or wealth, 
has been chosen to the leadership. This description of the 
Bedouins to-day applies equally well to them in the age of 
Mohammed. 

The Arabs who settled along the southern and western 
coasts of the peninsula had reached in the sixth century a 
The seden- considerable degree of civilization. They prac- 
tary Arabs ticed agriculture and carried on a flourishing 
trade across the Red Sea and even to distant India. Con¬ 
stant feuds between these sedentary Arabs and the Bedouins 
resulted in much petty warfare. Nevertheless, the many 
tribes throughout the peninsula preserved a feeling of na¬ 
tional unity, which was greatly strengthened by Moham¬ 
med’s appearance on the scene. 

The city of Mecca, situated about fifty miles from the Red 
Sea, was a commercial metropolis and the center of Arabian 
Arabian heathenism. The Arab tribes ceased fighting 
heathenism f or f our months in every year, and went up to 
Mecca to buy and sell and visit the famous sanctuary called 
the Kaaba. Here were many idols and a small, black stone 
(probably a meteorite), which legend declared had been 
brought from heaven. The stone was originally white, but 
the sins of the people had blackened it. Most of the Arabs 
were idolaters, yet some of them believed in Allah, the 
“Unknown God” of the Semites. The Jews and Christians 
in Arabia also helped to spread abroad the conception of one 
God and thus to prepare the way for a prophet of a mono¬ 
theistic religion. 


Mohammed: Prophet and Statesman 455 


149. Mohammed: Prophet and Statesman 

This prophet, Mohammed (Mahomet), was born at Mecca 
about 570. Having been left an orphan at an early age, 
Mohammed received no regular education and Early life of 
for some time earned his living as a shepherd and Mohammed 
camel driver. His marriage to a rich widow enabled him 
to settle down as a prosperous, though still undistinguished, 
merchant at Mecca. 

Mohammed, as he grew older, centered his thoughts more 
and more on religion. He could not reconcile the idolatry 
of the Arabs with that belief in the unity of God Mohammed’s 
which he himself had reached. His distress of visions 
mind led him often to withdraw into the wilderness, where he 
fasted and kept solitary vigils. During these lonely hours in 
the desert, strange 
scenes passed before 
his eyes and strange 
voices sounded in his 
ears. Mohammed at 
first thought that evil 
spirits possessed him, 
but his wife encouraged 
him to believe that his 
visions were a revela¬ 
tion from another 
world. One day, so he 
declared, the archangel 
Gabriel appeared to 
him and bade him preach a new religion to the Arabs. It 
was very simple, but in its simplicity lay its strength: 
“There is no god but God (Allah), and Mohammed is the 
prophet of God.” 

Mohammed made his first converts in his wife, his children, 
and the friends who knew him best. Then, becoming bolder, 
he began to preach publicly in Mecca. In spite of his elo¬ 
quence, obvious sincerity, and attractive personality, he met 



The Archangel Gabriel Appearing 
to Mohammed 

After a thirteenth-century Persian miniature. 





456 


The Arabs and Islam 


a discouraging reception. A few slaves and poor freemen ac¬ 
cepted him as a prophet, but most people thought him a mad- 
The Hegira, man. Mohammed’s followers called themselves 
622 Moslems, from an Arabic word meaning one who 

“submits” (to God’s will). They were bitterly persecuted by 
the citizens of Mecca, who resented Mohammed’s attacks on 
idolatry. Finally, he and his converts took refuge in Medina, 
where some of the inhabitants had already accepted his teach¬ 
ings. This was the famous Hegira (Flight) of the Prophet. 
The year of the Hegira (622) has become the year 1 in the 
Moslem calendar. 

Mohammed at Medina occupied a position of honor and 
influence. The people welcomed him gladly and made him 
Later life of their chief magistrate. As his adherents in- 
Mohammed creased in number, he began to combine fighting 
with preaching. His military expeditions against the Bed¬ 
ouin Arabs proved to be very successful. Many of the 
conquered tribes enlisted under his banner and at length 
captured Mecca for the prophet. He treated its inhabitants 
leniently, but threw down all the idols in the Kaaba. After 
the submission of Mecca most of the Arabs abandoned idol¬ 
atry and accepted the new religion. 

Mohammed did not long enjoy his position as uncrowned 
king of Arabia. He died in 632, at Medina, where he was 
Death of buried and where his tomb is still visited by 
Mohammed pious Moslems. His followers could scarcely be¬ 
lieve that their great prophet had gone away from them 
forever. They were ready to worship him as a god, until old 
Abu Bekr, Mohammed’s father-in-law, rebuked them with 
the memorable words: “Whoso worshipeth Mohammed, let 
him know that Mohammed is dead; but whoso worshipeth 
God, let him know that God liveth and dieth not.” 

The character of Mohammed has been variously estimated. 
Moslem writers make him a saint; Christian writers, until 
Mohammed’s recent times, have called him an “impostor.” 
character We know that he was a man of simple habits, 
who, even in the days of his prosperity, lived on dates, 


Islam and the Koran 


457 


barley bread, and water, mended his woolen garments, and 
attended to his own wants. He was mild and gentle, a lover 
of children, devoted to his friends, and forgiving toward his 
foes. He seems to have won the admiration of all with whom 
he came in contact. We know, too, that Mohammed was so 
deeply impressed with the consciousness of his religious 
mission that he was ready to give up wealth and an honorable 
position and face for years the ridicule and hatred of the 
people of Mecca. His faults — deceitfulness, superstitious¬ 
ness, sensuality — were those of the Arabs of his time. Their 
existence in Mohammed’s character should not prevent our 
recognition of his real greatness as a prophet and as a 
statesman. 


150. Islam and the Koran 

The religion which Mohammed preached is called Islam, 
an Arabic word meaning “surrender” or “resignation.” 
This religion has a sacred book, the Koran Formation of 
(“thing read” or “thing recited”). It contains the K °r an 
the speeches, prayers, and other utterances of Mohammed 
at various times during his career. Some parts of the Koran 
were dictated by the prophet to his disciples and by them 
were written out on skins, leaves of palm trees, bones, and 
bits of parchment. Many other parts remained at first only 
in the memory of Mohammed’s followers. Soon after his 
death all the scattered passages were collected in one book, 
which has come down unchanged to the present day. 

The doctrines found in the Koran show many adaptations 
from the Jewish and Christian religions. Like them Islam 
emphasizes the unity of God and the immortality Religious 
of the soul. Like them, also, Islam recognizes teachings of 
the existence of prophets, including Abraham, 

Moses, and Jesus (whom it regards as a prophet), 
but insists that Mohammed was the last and greatest of the 
prophets. The account of the creation and fall of man is 
taken, with variations, from the Old Testament. The de- 


458 


The Arabs and Islam 


scriptions of the resurrection of the dead and the last judg¬ 
ment, and the division of the future world into paradise and 
hell, the former for believers in Islam, the latter for those 
who have refused to accept it, were also largely borrowed 
from other religions. 

The Koran imposes on the faithful Moslem five great obli¬ 
gations. First, he must recite, at least once in his life, aloud, 
The “pillars” correctly, and with full understanding, the short 
of Islam creed: ‘‘There is no god but God, and Moham¬ 
med is the prophet of God.” Second, he must pray five times 
a day: at dawn, just after noon, before sunset, just after 



A Passage from the Koran 

After a manuscript in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. 


sunset, and at the end of the day. The hour of prayer is 
announced from the tall minaret of the mosque by a crier 
{muezzin). Before engaging in prayer the worshiper washes 
face, hands, and feet; during the prayer he turns toward 
Mecca and bows his head to the ground. Third, he must ob¬ 
serve a strict fast, from sunrise to sunset, during every day 
of Ramadan , the ninth month of the Mohammedan year. 
In this month God presented the Koran to Gabriel for reve¬ 
lation to the prophet. Fourth, he must give alms to the poor. 
Fifth, he must, “if he is able,” undertake at least one 





459 


The Spread of Islam 

pilgrimage to Mecca. The annual visit of tens of thousands 
of pilgrims to the holy city helps to preserve the feeling of 
brotherhood among Moslems all over the world. These five 
obligations are the “pillars” of Islam. 

Islam as a religious system is exceedingly simple. It does 
not provide any elaborate ceremonies of worship and permits 
no altars, pictures, or images in the mosque, simplicity 
Islam even lacks a priesthood. Every Moslem of Islam 
acts as his own priest. There is, however, an official who on 
Friday, the Mohammedan Sabbath, offers up public prayers 
in the mosque and delivers a sermon to the assembled wor¬ 
shipers. All work is suspended during this service, but at 
its close ordinary activities are resumed. 

The Koran furnishes a moral code for the adherents of 
Islam. It contains several noteworthy prohibitions. The 
Moslem is not to make images, to engage in M oraiteach- 
games of chance, to eat pork, or to drink wine, ings of the 
The Koran also inculcates many active virtues, Koran 
including reverence toward parents, protection of widows 
and orphans, charity toward the poor, kindness to slaves, 
and gentle treatment of the lower animals. It must be 
admitted that the laws of the Koran did much to restrain 
the vices of the Arabs and to provide them with higher 
standards of right and wrong. Islam marked a great ad¬ 
vance over Arabian heathenism. 

151. The Spread of Islam 

Islam was a conquering religion, for it proclaimed the 
righteousness of a “holy war” against unbelievers. It 
promised rich booty for those who fought and Islam as a 
won, and paradise for those who fell. The Arab religious 
soldier, dying on the battlefield, expected to be movement 
carried away by bright-eyed maidens to a garden of delight, 
where, reclining on soft cushions and rugs, he was to enjoy 
forever an existence of sensual ease. “Whosoever falls in 
battle,” so runs a passage in the Koran, “his sins are for- 


460 


The Arabs and Islam 


given, and at the day of judgment his limbs shall be supplied 
by the wings of angels and cherubim.” 

The creation of the Arabian power must not be understood, 
however, as solely a religious movement. Pride and greed, 
Islam as a as well as fanaticism, drove the Arabs forward on 
political force their conquering career. Arabia had long been 
in a state of unrest. Its warlike tribes, feeling a sense of 
their superiority to other peoples, were eager to overrun the 
rich districts of western Asia, much as the Germans had 
overrun western Europe. Islam strengthened the racial con¬ 
sciousness of the Arabs, united them into one nation, and 
gave them an organization for world-wide rule. 

The most extensive conquests of the Arabs were made 
within a few years after Mohammed’s death. 1 During this pe- 
Arab con- r i°d the Moslem warriors, though poorly armed, 
quests in the ill-disciplined, and in every battle greatly out- 
E ast, 632-642 num b ere( i > attacked with success the two strong¬ 
est military powers then in the world — Rome and Persia. 
They snatched from the Roman Empire in the East the 
province of Syria, with the famous cities of Damascus, 
Antioch, and Jerusalem. They seized from the Persians the 
Tigris-Euphrates districts and then, invading the plateau of 
Iran, overthrew the Persian power. Egypt was also sub¬ 
jugated by these irresistible soldiers of the Crescent. The 
Arabs founded Cairo in Egypt to take the place of Alexandria 
as the capital of the country. 

According to the strict teaching of the Koran those who 
refused to accept Islam were either to be killed or to be re- 
Treatment of duced to slavery. As a matter of fact, the Arabs 
the conquered treated their new subjects with marked liberality, 
peoples No massacres and no persecutions occurred. The 
conquered peoples were not compelled to accept Islam at the 
point of the sword. Many Christians in Syria and Egypt and 
most of the Zoroastrians (§ 24) in Persia adopted Islam, in 
order to avoid paying tribute and to acquire the privileges 
of Moslem citizens. 

1 See the map, page 461. 




V3S UVdGd 































































462 


The Arabs and Islam 


The first attempts of the Arabs to capture Constantinople 
were made by sea and were repulsed, but early in the 
siege of eighth century the city had to face a combined 
constant!- attack by a Moslem navy and army. The East- 
nopie, 716- ern em p e ror conducted a heroic defense, using 
with much effectiveness the celebrated mixture 
known as “Greek fire.” This combustible, probably com¬ 
posed of sulphur, naphtha, and quicklime, was poured or 
hurled on the enemy’s ships in order to burn them. “Greek 
fire,” the rigors of an uncommonly severe winter, and timely 



Naval Battle Showing Use of “Greek Fire” 

After a Byzantine manuscript of the fourteenth century at Madrid. “Greek fire” in 
marine warfare was most commonly propelled through long tubes of copper, which were 
placed on the prow of a ship and managed by a gunner. Combustibles might also be kept 
in tubes flung by hand and exploded on board the enemy’s vessel. 

aid received by the emperor from the Bulgarians, at length 
compelled the Arabs to beat a retreat. Their failure to take 
Constantinople gave the Roman Empire in the East another 
long lease of life. 

After occupying Egypt the Arabs began to overrun North 
Africa. A few of the great cities held out for a time, but 
North Africa after the capture and destruction of Carthage 
subdued Arab sway was soon established over the whole ex¬ 
tent of the Mediterranean coast from Egypt to the Atlantic. 
Islam made in North Africa one of its most permanent con- 








463 


The Spread of Islam 

quests. The Arabs who settled there gave their religion and 
government to the Berbers, as the natives of the country 
were called, and to some extent intermingled with them. 
Arabs and Berbers still comprise the population of North 
Africa, though their once independent states have now been 
absorbed by European powers. 

The subjugation of Spain came next. An army of Arabs 
and Berbers crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and for the first 
time confronted the Germans. The Visigothic subjugation 
kingdom (§ 107), already much enfeebled, proved of Spain 
to be an easy prey. A single battle made the in- begun 
vaders masters of half of Spain. Their hosts soon swept 
northward to the Pyrenees. Only small districts in the north¬ 
ern part of the Spanish peninsula remained unconquered. 

The Moslem warriors were not stopped by the Pyrenees. 
They captured many of the old Roman cities in the south 
of Gaul and then advanced to the north, at- TheArab 
tracted, apparently, by the booty to be found in advance in 
Christian monasteries and churches. In the Gaul 
vicinity of Tours they encountered the great army which 
Charles Martel (§ 116), the chief minister of the Frankish 
king, had collected to oppose their advance. 

The battle of Tours seems to have continued for several 
days. A Spanish chronicler tells us that the heavy infantry 
of the Franks stood “immovable as a wall, in- Battle of 
flexible as a block of ice” against the desperate Tours, 732 
assaults of the Arab horsemen. The death of the Arab 
commander discouraged his troops. When the Franks, after 
the last day’s fighting, wished to renew the struggle, they 
found that the enemy had fled, leaving a camp filled with the 
spoils of war. This engagement, though famous in history, 
was scarcely decisive. The Arabs maintained themselves 
for some time in southern Gaul. It was the Frankish ruler, 
Pepin the Short, who annexed their possessions there and 
drove them across the Pyrenees to Spain. They continued 
to rule over Spain for many centuries, founding there a 
brilliant civilization (§ 173). 


464 


The Arabs and Islam 


152. Arabic Culture 

The Arabs rivaled the Romans as absorbers and spreaders 
of civilization. Their conquests brought them into contact 
The Arab with the highly civilized peoples of the Near East 

genius and a i on g the shores of the Mediterranean. 

What they learned from Greeks, Syrians, Persians, Jews, 
and Hindus they improved upon, thus building up a culture 
which for several centuries far surpassed that of western 
Europe. 

Many improvements in agriculture were due to the Arabs. 
They had a good system of irrigation, practiced rotation of 
Agriculture cro P s > employed fertilizers, and understood how 
to graft and produce new varieties of plants and 
fruits. We have received from the Arabs cotton, flax, hemp, 
buckwheat, rice, sugar cane, and coffee; various vegetables, 
including asparagus, artichokes, and beans; and such fruits 
as melons, oranges, lemons, apricots, and plums. 

The Arabs excelled in various manufactures. Damascus, 
was famous for its brocades, tapestries, and blades of tem- 
Manufac- pered steel. The Moorish cities in Spain had also 
turing their special productions: Cordova, leather; 

Toledo, armor; and Granada, rich silks. Arab craftsmen 
taught the Venetians to make crystal and plate glass. The 
work of Arab potters and weavers was at once the admiration 
and despair of its imitators in western Europe. The Arabs 
knew the secrets of dyeing and made a kind of paper. 
Their textile fabrics and articles of metal were distinguished 
for beauty of design and perfection of workmanship. Euro¬ 
pean peoples during the early Middle Ages received the 
greater*part of their manufactured articles of luxury through 
the Arabs. 

The products of Arab farms and workshops were carried 
far and wide throughout medieval lands. The Arabs were 
Commerce keen merc hants, and Mohammed had expressly 
encouraged commerce by declaring it agreeable: 
to God. The Arabs traded with India, China, the East. 


Arabic Culture 


465 


Indies, the interior of Africa, Russia, and even with the 
Baltic lands. Bagdad, which commanded both land and 
water routes, was the chief center of this commerce, but other 
cities of western Asia, North Africa, and Spain shared in its 
advantages. The bazaar, or merchants’ quarter, was found 
in every Moslem city. 

The trade of the Arabs, their wide conquests, and their re¬ 
ligious pilgrimages to Mecca vastly increased their knowledge 
of the world. They were the best geographers Geographical 
of the Middle Ages. Arab scholars compiled knowledge 
encyclopedias describing foreign countries and peoples, con¬ 
structed celestial spheres, and measured closely the arc of 
the meridian in order to calculate the size of the earth. There 
is some reason to believe that the mariner’s compass (§ 189) 
was first introduced into Europe by the Arabs. 

The Arabs have been considered to be the founders of 
modern experimental science. They were relatively skillful 
chemists. In medicine they based their work on scientific 
that of the Greeks, but made many additional investigation 
contributions to the art of healing. They had a strong taste 
for mathematics and promoted the study of both algebra 
and geometry. The so-called “Arabic” notation, which they 
borrowed from India, was introduced by them into Christian 
Europe, where it supplanted the awkward Roman numerals. 
The mathematical knowledge of the Arabs also enabled them 
to make considerable progress in astronomy. 

Painting and sculpture owe little to the Arabs, but their 
architecture reached a high level of excellence. They seem to 
have introduced the pointed arch into Europe. 

Swelling domes, vaulted roofs, arched porches, 
tall and graceful minarets, and the exquisite decorative pat¬ 
terns known as “arabesques” make many of their buildings 
miracles of beauty. Glazed tiles, mosaics, and jeweled glass 
were also used for ornamentation. The Arab architectural 
style was copied by the Christians in Spain and by the Span¬ 
iards was carried to the New World. Architects of the 
United States have now begun to appreciate the charm and 


466 


The Arabs and Islam 


Education 


utility of this style, which is so well adapted to the clear 
atmosphere, brilliant sunshine, and wide vistas of our south¬ 
western states. Among the best known of Arab buildings 
are the so-called “Mosque of Omar” at Jerusalem, the 
Great Mosque (now a cathedral) of Cordova, and that ar¬ 
chitectural gem, the Alhambra at Granada. 

Schools and universities flourished in Moslem lands. The 
largest institution of learning was at Cairo, where the lectures 
of the professors were attended by 
thousands of students. Famous uni¬ 
versities also existed in Bag¬ 
dad and Cordova. Moslem 
scholars especially delighted in the 
study of philosophy. Arabic transla¬ 
tions of Aristotle’s writings (§ 62) made 
the ideas of that great thinker familiar 
to the students of western Europe, 
where the knowledge of Greek had 
nearly died out. The Arabs also formed 
extensive libraries of many thousands 
of manuscripts, all carefully arranged 
and catalogued. Their libraries and 
universities, especially in Spain, were 
visited by many Christians, who thus 
became acquainted with Moslem learn¬ 
ing and helped to introduce it into 
Europe. The influence of the Arabs 
upon our civilization is shown by the 
Arabic origin of such words as “mus¬ 
lin,” “damask,” “mattress,” “cupola,” 
“zenith,” and “cipher,” and especially 
of words beginning with the prefix al 
(the definite article in Arabic). In 
English these include “algebra,” “al¬ 
kali,” “alcohol,” “almanac,” “alcove,” 
‘Aldebaran” (the star), and “alchemy” (whence our word 
‘chemistry”). 



Capitals and 
“Arabesques” from 
the Alhambra 

One of Mohammed’s laws 
forbidding the use of idols 
was subsequently expanded 
by religious teachers into 
a prohibition of all imita¬ 
tions of human or animal 
forms in art. Sculptors who 
observed this prohibition re¬ 
lied for ornamentation on 
intricate geometrical designs 
known as “arabesques” These 
were carved in stone or molded 
in plaster. 






















467 


The Caliphate and Its Disruption 

153. The Caliphate and Its Disruption 

The title of caliph, meaning “successor” or “representa¬ 
tive,” had first been assumed by Mohammed’s father-in- 
law, Abu Bekr, who was chosen to succeed the 
Prophet as the civil and religious head of the “Orthodox” 
Moslem world. After him followed Omar, who cali P hs > 632- 
had been one of Mohammed’s most devoted fol¬ 
lowers, and then Othman and Ali, both sons-in-law of Mo¬ 
hammed. These four rulers are sometimes known as the 
“Orthodox” caliphs, because their right to the succession 
was universally acknowledged by Moslems. 

After Ali’s death the governor of Syria succeeded in mak¬ 
ing himself caliph of the Moslem world. This usurper con¬ 
verted the caliphate into a hereditary, instead Qmmiad 
of an elective, office, and established the dynasty caliphs at 
of the Ommiads. Their capital was no longer ^ 6 a “^ us » 
Medina in Arabia, but the Syrian city of Damas¬ 
cus. The descendants of Mohammed’s family refused, how¬ 
ever, to recognize the Ommiads as legitimate caliphs. In 
750 a sudden revolt, headed by the party of the Abbasids, 
established a new dynasty. The Abbasids treacherously 
murdered nearly all the members of the Ommiad family, but 
one survivor escaped to Spain, where he founded at Cordova 
an independent Ommiad dynasty. This became the cali¬ 
phate of Cordova early in the tenth century. North Africa 
and Egypt also united in a caliphate with its capital at 
Cairo. 

The Abbasids continued to reign over the Moslems in Asia 
for more than three hundred years. The most celebrated of 
Abbasid caliphs was Harun-al-Rashid (Aaron the Abbasid 
Just), a contemporary of Charlemagne, to whom caliphs at 
the Arab ruler sent several presents, including an Bagdad, 750 “ 
elephant and a water-clock which struck the 
hours. The tales of Harun-al-Rashid’s magnificence, his gold 
and silver, his silks and gems, his rugs and tapestries, reflect 
the luxurious life of the Abbasid rulers. The Abbasids re- 


468 


The Arabs and Islam 


moved their capital from Damascus to Bagdad on the Tigris 
River. The new city, under the fostering care of the caliphs, 
grew with great rapidity. Its population in the ninth cen¬ 
tury is said to have reached two millions. It was the largest 
and richest city in the Moslem world. How its splendor im¬ 
pressed the imagination may be learned from the stories 



in the Arabic work known as the Thousand and One Nights 
(popularly called the Arabian Nights ), a work which has 
been translated into many European languages. 

The Arab dominions in the Near East were overrun during 
the eleventh century by the Seljuk Turks, whose leader in 
The Arabs 1058 assumed the caliph’s political authority at 
and the Sei- Bagdad. The coming of the Seljuk Turks was a 
juk Turks very g reat misfortune, for these barbarians did 
nothing to preserve and extend Arab culture. They did 
begin, however, a new era of Moslem conquest, and within a 
few years they had won almost all Asia Minor from the 
Roman Empire in the East. The new Turkish menace to 
Christendom induced the emperor at Constantinople to call 
on the chivalry of western Europe for aid, thus inaugurating 
the Crusades. 












The Caliphate and Its Disruption 469 

For Explanation 


Bedouins 

Ishmael 

sheik 


muezzin 
Ramadan 
holy war 
Greek fire 
Berbers 


Koran 


minaret 

caliph 

Orthodox caliphs 

Ommiads 

Abbasids 

Harun-al-Rashid 

Bagdad 

Seljuk Turks 


Kaaba 

Allah 


Moslem 

Medina 

Hegira 


Tours 

Arabic numerals 


For Discussion 


1. How did the geographical situation of Arabia keep it from being con¬ 
quered by Persians, Macedonians, or Romans? 

2. Why had the Arabs, until the time of Mohammed, played so incon¬ 
spicuous a part in the history of the world? 

3. Mohammed “began as a mule driver and ended as both a pope and a 
king.” Explain this statement. 

4. How does Mohammed’s career in Mecca illustrate the saying that “a 
prophet is not without honor save in his own country”? 

5. What resemblances may be traced between Islam on the one side and 
Judaism on the other side? 

6. Can you suggest any reason why the Arabs did little in painting and 
sculpture? 

7. Discuss the accuracy of this statement: “If our ideas and our arts go 
back to antiquity, all the inventions which make life easy and agree¬ 
able come to us from the Arabs.” 

8. Show that Islam was an heir of the Graeco-Oriental civilization. 

9. “Paradise lies under the shadow of swords.” What is the significance 
of this Arab saying? 

10. “The repulse at Tours ranks with Marathon, Arbela, Zama, and 
Chalons in the long struggle between Asia and Europe.” Account 
for the importance of each of the battles mentioned. 


For Further Study 


1. Compare the “five pillars” of Islam with the religious obligations 
resting upon medieval Christians. 

2. Study the territorial growth of the Arab power (map, page 461). How 
much of the area shown is still Moslem in belief? 

3. Prepare an oral report on the battle of Tours. 

4. Locate the following commercial cities of the Arabian Empire: 
Samarkand, Cabul, Bokhara, Kairwan, Fez, Seville, and Toledo. 


470 


The Arabs and Islam 


5. Look up the origin of our English names damask, muslin, gauze, cor¬ 
dovan leather, and morocco leather. 

6. Name some of the best-known stories in the Thousand and One Nights. 
What stories have you read? 


Supplementary 

Webster, Readings in Early European History, chapter xxix, “The Teach¬ 
ings of Mohammed.” 

Webster and Webb, Historical Outline Maps and Exercises: Early Euro¬ 
pean History, No. XVI, Expansion of Islam (to 750). 



“Mosque of Omar,” Jerusalem 


More correctly called the Dome of the Rock. It was erected in the seventh century'to 
house and protect a famous rock which both Christian and Moslem tradition believed to be 
the spot where Abraham was preparing to sacrifice Isaac, and where the Ark of the Cove¬ 
nant rested. The dome is attributed to Saladin. This building, with its brilliant tiles 
covering the walls and its beautiful stained glass, is a very fine example of Arabic archi¬ 
tecture. 


















CHAPTER XX 


THE CRUSADES 

The Crusades remain a wonderful and perpetually astonishing act in 
the great drama of human life. They touched the summits of daring and 
devotion, if they also sank into the deep abysms of shame. Motives of 
self-interest may have lurked in them — otherworldly motives of buying 
salvation for a little price; worldly motives of achieving riches and acquir¬ 
ing lands. Yet it would be treason to the majesty of man’s incessant 
struggle towards an ideal good, if one were to deny that in and through 
the Crusades men strove for righteousness’ sake to extend the kingdom of 
God upon earth. 

— Ernest Barker 

154. Causes of the Crusades 

The series of military expeditions, undertaken by the 
Christians of Europe for the purpose of recovering the Holy 
Land from the Moslems, have received the name Place of the 
of Crusades. They formed a renewal of the age- crusades in 
long contest between East and West, in which hlstory 
the struggle of Greeks and Persians and of Romans and 
Carthaginians had been the earlier episodes. The contest 
assumed a new character when Europe had become Chris¬ 
tian and Asia Mohammedan. It was not only two contrast¬ 
ing types of civilization but also two rival world religions 
which in the eighth century faced each other under the walls 
of Constantinople and on the battlefield of Tours. Now, 
during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, they were to 
meet again. 

The Crusades were first and foremost a spiritual enterprise. 
They sprang from the pilgrimages which Chris- pii griina ge S 
tians had long been accustomed to make to the to the 
scenes of Christ’s life on earth. Men considered Holy Land 
it a wonderful privilege to see the cave in which He was 

471 


472 


The Crusades 


born, to kiss the spot where He died, and to kneel in prayer at 
His tomb. The eleventh century was marked by an increased 
zeal for pilgrimages, and from this time travelers to the 
Holy Land were very numerous. For greater security they 
often joined themselves in companies and marched under 
arms. It needed little to transform such pilgrims into cru¬ 
saders. 

The Arab conquest of the Holy Land had not interrupted 
the stream of pilgrims, for the early caliphs were more toler¬ 
ant of unbelievers than 
Christian emperors of 

Abuse of heretics, 
pilgrims by After the 
the Turks , 

conquests 
of the Selj uk Turks 
(§ 153), pilgrimages be¬ 
came more difficult and 
dangerous. The Turks 
were a ruder people 
than the Arabs whom 
they displaced, and in 
their fanatic zeal for 
Islam were not inclined 
to treat the Christians 
with consideration. 
Many stories floated 
back to Europe of the 
outrages committed on 
the pilgrims and on the sacred shrines venerated by all 
Christendom. Such stories, which lost nothing in the tell¬ 
ing, aroused a storm of indignation throughout Europe and 
awakened an intense desire to rescue the Holy Land from 
“ infidels.” 



Combat between Crusaders and 
Moslems 

A picture in a twelfth-century window, formerly in 
the church of St.-Denis, near Paris. 


The Crusades were not simply an expression of the simple 
faith of the Middle Ages. Something more than religious 
enthusiasm sent an unending procession of crusaders along 
the highways of Europe and over the trackless wastes of 












First Crusade 


473 


Asia Minor to Jerusalem. The Crusades, in fact, appealed 
strongly to the warlike instincts of the feudal nobles, who 
saw in them-an unequaled opportunity for acquir- The Crusades 
ing fame, riches, lands, and power. The Nor- and the 
mans were especially stirred by the prospect of upper classes 
adventure and plunder which the crusading movement 
opened up. They had now established themselves in south¬ 
ern Italy and Sicily (§ 127), from which they looked across 
the Mediterranean for additional lands to conquer. Norman 
knights formed a very large element in several of the cru¬ 
saders’ armies. 

The Crusades also attracted the lower classes. The misery 
of the common people in medieval Europe was so great that 
for them it seemed not a hardship, but rather a The lower 
relief, to leave their homes in order to better classes and 
themselves abroad. Famine and pestilence, pov- e rusa es 
erty and oppression, drove them to emigrate hopefully to 
the golden East. 

The Church, in order to foster the Crusades, promised both 
religious and secular benefits to those who took part in them. 
A warrior of the Cross was to enjoy forgiveness of privileges of 
all his past sins. If he died fighting for the faith, crusaders 
he was assured of an immediate entrance to the joys of 
paradise. The Church also freed him from paying interest 
on his debts and threatened with excommunication any one 
who molested his wife, his children, or his property. 

Seven or eight chief Crusades are usually enumerated. To 
number them, however, obscures the fact that for nearly two 
hundred years Europe and Asia were engaged in Number of 
almost constant warfare. Throughout this pe- the Crusades 
riod there was a continuous movement of crusaders to and 
from the Moslem possessions in Asia Minor, Syria, and 
Egypt. 

155. First Crusade 

The signal for the First Crusade was given by the conquests 
of the Seljuk Turks. These barbarians infused fresh energy 


474 


The Crusades 


into Islam. They began a new era of Moslem expansion 
by winning almost the whole of Asia Minor from the 
Occasion of Roman Empire in the East. One of .their leaders 
the First established himself at Nicaea, the scene of the first 
crusade Church Council (§ 104), and founded the sultanate 
of Rum (Rome). 

The presence of the Turks so close to Constantinople was 
a menace to all Europe. The Eastern emperor took steps 
Appeal of to ex P e l the invaders. He could not draw on the 
emperor to hardy tribes of Asia Minor for the soldiers he 
pope needed, but with reinforcements from the West 

he hoped to recover the lost provinces of the empire. Ac¬ 
cordingly, he sent an embassy to Pope Urban II, the suc¬ 
cessor of Gregory VII (§ 146), requesting aid. The fact 
that the emperor appealed to the pope, rather than to any 
king, shows what a high place the Papacy then held in the 
affairs of Europe. 

Urban lent a willing ear. He summoned a great council 
of clergy and nobles to meet at Clermont in France. The 
Council of pope, in addressing the council, said little about 
ciermont, the dangers which threatened the Roman Em¬ 
pire in the East from the Turks, but dwelt chiefly 
on the wretched condition of the Holy Land, with its 
churches polluted by unbelievers and its Christian inhabit¬ 
ants tortured and enslaved. Then, turning to the proud 
knights who stood by, Urban called upon them to abandon 
their wicked practice of private warfare and take up arms, 
instead, against the infidel. “Christ Himself,’’ he cried, 
“will be your leader, when, like the Israelites of old, you 
fight for Jerusalem. . . . Start upon the way to the Holy 
Sepulcher; wrench the land from the accursed race, and sub¬ 
due it yourselves. Thus shall you spoil your foes of their 
wealth and return home victorious, or, purpled with your 
own blood, receive an everlasting reward.” 

Urban’s trumpet call to action met an instant response. 
From the assembled host there went up, as it were, a single 
shout: “God wills it! God wills it!” “It is, in truth, His 


First Crusade 


475 


will,” answered Urban, “and let these words be your war cry 
when you unsheath your swords against the enemy.” Then 
man after man pressed forward to receive the “Godwins 
badge of a crusader, a cross of red cloth. It it! ” 
was to be worn on the breast when the crusader went forth, 
and on the back when he returned. 

The months which followed the Council of Clermont were 
marked by an epidemic of religious excitement in western 
Europe. Popular preachers everywhere took up Prelude t0 
the cry “God wills it!” and urged their hearers the First 
to start for Jerusalem. A monk named Peter the Crusade 
Hermit aroused large parts of France with his passionate elo¬ 
quence, as he rode from town to town, carrying a huge cross 
before him and preaching to vast crowds. Without waiting 
for the main body of nobles, which was to assemble at Con¬ 
stantinople, a horde of poor men, women, and children set 
out, unorganized and almost unarmed, on the road to the 
Holy Land. One of these crusading bands, led by Peter 
the Hermit, managed to reach Constantinople, after suffering 
terrible hardships. The emperor sent his ragged allies as 
quickly as possible to Asia Minor, where most of them were 
slaughtered by the Turks. 

Meanwhile, real armies were gathering in the West. Re¬ 
cruits came in greater numbers from France than from any 
other country, a circumstance which resulted in The main 
the crusaders being generally called “ Franks ” by Crusade 
their Moslem foes. They had no single commander, but 
each contingent set out for Constantinople by its own route 
and at its own time. 1 

The crusaders probably did not number more than fifty 
thousand fighting men, but the disunion which prevailed 
among the Turks favored the success of their en- The 
terprise. They captured Nicsea, overran Asia crusaders in 
Minor, and at length reached Antioch, the key to 
northern Syria. The city fell after a siege of 
seven months. The crusaders were scarcely within the walls 
1 See the map between pages 480-481. 


476 


The Crusades 


before they found themselves besieged by a large Turkish 
army. They were now in a desperate plight: famine wasted 
their ranks; many soldiers deserted; and the Eastern em¬ 
peror disappointed all hope of rescue. News of the dis¬ 
covery in an Antioch church of the Holy Lance which had 
pierced the Savior’s side restored their drooping spirits. 
The whole army issued forth from the city, bearing the relic 
as a standard, and drove the Turks in headlong flight. This 
victory opened the road to Jerusalem. 

The crusaders now approached the city which formed the 
goal of all their efforts. Before attacking it, they marched 
Capture of barefoot in religious procession around the walls, 
Jerusalem, with Peter the Hermit at their head. Then came 
the assault. Once inside the city, the crusaders 
massacred their enemies without mercy. Afterward, we are 
told, they went “rejoicing, nay for excess of joy weeping, 
to the tomb of our Savior to adore and give thanks;” 


156. Crusaders’ States in Syria 

After the capture of Jerusalem the crusaders met to elect a 
king. Their choice fell upon Godfrey of Bouillon, a dis- 
Latin tinguished German noble. He refused to wear 

Kingdom of a crown of gold in the city where Christ had worn 
Jerusalem a crown G f thorns and accepted, instead, the 
modest title of “Protector of the Holy Sepulcher.” Godfrey 
died the next year and his brother Baldwin, who succeeded 
him, being less scrupulous, was crowned king at Bethlehem. 
The new kingdom contained nearly a score of fiefs, whose 
lords made war, administered justice, and coined money, 
like independent rulers. The main features of European 
feudalism were thus transplanted to Asiatic soil. 

The winning of Jerusalem and the district about it formed 
other hardly more than a preliminary stage in the 

crusaders’ conquest of Syria. Much fighting was still neces¬ 
sary before the crusaders could establish them¬ 
selves firmly in the country. Instead of founding one strong 


477 


Crusaders’ States in Syria 

power in Syria, they split up their possessions into the 
three principalities of Tripoli, Antioch, and Edessa. These 
small states owed allegiance to the Latin Kingdom of Jeru¬ 
salem. 

The ability of the crusaders’ states to maintain themselves 
for many years in Syria was largely due to the foundation of 
two military-religious orders. The 
members were both monks and 
knights; that is, to the Military _ 
monastic vows of chas- religious 
tity, poverty, and obe- orders (295) 
dience they added a fourth vow, 
which bound them to protect pil¬ 
grims and fight the infidels. Such 
a combination of religion and war¬ 
fare made a strong appeal to the 
medieval mind. 

The Hospitalers, the first of these 
orders, grew out of a brotherhood 

for the Care Of Sick pil- Hospitalers 

grims in a hospital at and Tem P lars 
Jerusalem. Many knights joined 
the organization, which soon proved 
to be very useful in defending the 
Holy Land. Even more important 
were the Templars, so called be¬ 
cause their headquarters in Jerusa¬ 
lem lay near the site of Solomon’s 
Temple. Both orders built many Crusaders’ States in Syria 
castles in Syria, the remains of 

which still impress the beholder. They established numerous 
branches in Europe and, by presents and legacies, acquired 
vast wealth. The Templars were disbanded in the four¬ 
teenth century, but the Hospitalers continued to fight 
valiantly against the Turks long after the close of the cru¬ 
sading movement. 

The depleted ranks of the crusaders were constantly filled 
















478 


The Crusades 


by fresh bands of pilgrim knights, who visited Palestine to 
Christian and P ra y at the Holy Sepulcher and have a taste of 
Moslem in fighting. In spite of constant border warfare, 
the Holy Land muc | 1 trade an d friendly intercourse prevailed 
between Christians and Moslems. They learned to respect 
one another both as foes and neighbors. 
The crusaders' states in Syria became a 
meeting-place of East and West. 

157. Second and Third Crusades 

The success of the Christians in the 
First Crusade had been largely due to the 
Second disunion among their enemies. 

Crusade The Moslems learned in time 

the value of united action, and at length 
succeeded in capturing Edessa, one of the 
principal Christian outposts in the Near 
East. The fall of the city, followed by the 
loss of the entire county of Edessa, aroused 
western Europe to the danger which threat¬ 
ened the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and 
led to another crusading enterprise. This 
Second Crusade had an unhappy ending. 
Only a few thousands of the host that set 
out from Europe escaped annihilation in 
Asia Minor at the hands of the Turks. 

The Moslems now found in the famous 
Saladin a leader for a holy war against the 
Christians. Saladin in character was a 
typical Mohammedan, very * devout in 
prayers and fasting, fiercely hostile toward unbelievers, and 
full of the pride of race. To these qualities he added a kind¬ 
liness and humanity not surpassed, if equaled, 
by any of his Christian foes. He lives in eastern 
history and legend as the hero who stemmed, once for all, 
the tide of European conquest in Asia. 



Effigy of a 
Knight Templar 

Temple Church, London 

Shows the kind of ar¬ 
mor worn between 1190 
and 1225. 


Saladin 





Second and Third Crusades 


479 


Having made himself sultan of Egypt, Saladin united the 
Moslems of Syria under his sway and then advanced against 
the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Chris- Capture of 
tians met him in a great battle near the Lake of Jerusalem by 
Galilee. It ended in the rout of their army and Saladin>1187 
the capture of their king. Saladin quickly reaped the fruits of 
victory. The Christian cities of Syria opened their gates to 
him, and at last Jerusalem it¬ 
self surrendered after a short 
siege. Little now remained of 
the possessions which the cru¬ 
saders had won in the Near 
East. 

The news of the taking of 
Jerusalem spread consternation 
throughout west- Third 
ern Christendom. Crusade 
The cry for another Crusade 
arose on all sides. Once more 
thousands of men sewed the 
cross in gold, or silk, or cloth 
upon their garments and set 
out for the Holy Land. When 
the three greatest rulers of Eu¬ 
rope — Philip Augustus, king 
of France, Richard I, king of 
England, and the Holy Roman 
Emperor, Frederick the Red- 
bearded ( Barbarossa ) — as¬ 
sumed the cross, it seemed 

that nothing could prevent the restoration of Christian su¬ 
premacy in Syria. 

The Germans under Frederick Barbarossa were the first 
to start. This emperor was now nearly seventy Death of 
years old, yet age had not lessened his crusading Frederick 
zeal. He took the overland route, and after Barbarossa 
much hard fighting reached southern Asia Minor. Here, 



“The Last Crusade" 

Richard I (looking down on the Holy- 
City): “My dream comes true.” A car¬ 
toon which appeared in Punch, December 
19, 1917, at the time of the British capture 
of Jerusalem.. 



480 


The Crusades 


however, he was drowned while trying to cross a swollen 
stream. Many of his discouraged followers at once returned 
to Germany; a few of them, however, pressed on and 
joined the other crusaders before the walls of Acre. 

The expedition of the French and English achieved little. 
Acre captured Philip and Richard, who came by sea, captured 
by Philip and Acre after a hard siege, but their quarrels pre¬ 
vented them from following up this initial success. 
Philip soon went home, leaving the further conduct of the 
Crusade in Richard’s hands. 

The English king remained for fourteen months longer in 
the Holy Land. His campaigns during this time gained for 
him the title of “Lion-hearted” (Cceur de Lion), 
by which he is always known. He had many 
adventures and performed knightly exploits 
without number, but could not capture Jerusalem. Tradition 
declares that when, during a truce, some crusaders went up 
to Jerusalem, Richard refused to accompany them, saying 
that he would not enter as a pilgrim the city which he could 
not rescue as a conqueror. He and Saladin finally concluded 
a treaty by the terms of which Christians were permitted 
to visit Jerusalem without paying tribute. Richard then 
set sail for England, and with his departure from the Holy 
Land the Third Crusade came to an end. 


Richard 
in the 
Holy Land 


158. Fourth Crusade and the Latin Empire of 
Constantinople 

The real author of the Fourth Crusade was Pope Inno¬ 
cent III (§ 146). Young, enthusiastic, and ambitious for 
innocent in the glory of the Papacy, he revived the plans of 
and the Urban II and sought once more to unite the 

Crusade forces of Christendom against Islam. No em¬ 

peror or king answered his summons, but a 
number of knights (chiefly French) took the crusader’s 
vow. 

The leaders of the Crusade decided to make Egypt their 









■■ T i 














,,, -i. 








' 


[ 















































MEDITERRANEAN LANDS 
AFTER THE FOURTH CRUSADE 

1202-1204 A.I>. 

- First crusade, 1096 -1099 

. . Second crusade, 1147 -1149 


>- Third crusade, 1189 -1192 
— Fourth crusade, 1202-1204 
Scale of Miles 

200 300 400 


C. =County 

D. =Duchy 
Dom.= Dominion 
Emp. = Empire 
K.= Kingdom 
P.=Prineipality 

THE M.-N. WORKS, BUFFALO, N. Y. 


Longitude West 0° East from Greenwich 


10 ° 





























































































Fourth Crusade 


481 


objective point, since this country was then the center of the 
Moslem power. The crusaders, accordingly, proceeded to 
Venice, for the purpose of securing transporta- The cru _ 
tion across the Mediterranean. The Venetians saders and 
agreed to furnish the necessary ships only on con- the Venetians 
dition that the crusaders first seize Zara on the eastern coast 
of the Adriayc. Zara was a Christian city, but it was also a 
naval and commercial rival of Venice. In spite of the pope’s 
protests, the crusaders besieged and captured the city. Even 
then they did not proceed against the Moslems. The 
Venetians persuaded them to turn their arms against Con¬ 
stantinople. These soldiers of the Cross, pledged to war 
with the Moslems, thus attacked a city which for centuries 
had formed the chief bulwark of Europe against the Arab 
and the Turk. 

The crusaders took Constantinople by storm. No “in¬ 
fidels” could have treated in worse fashion this home of 
ancient civilization. They burned down a great Sack of Con _ 
part of it; they slaughtered the inhabitants; stantinopie, 
they wantonly destroyed monuments, statues, 1204 
paintings, and manuscripts — the accumulation of a thou¬ 
sand years. Much of the movable wealth they carried away. 
Never, declared an eyewitness of the scene, had there been 
such plunder since the world began . 1 

The victors hastened to divide between them the lands of 
the Roman Empire in the East. Venice gained some districts 
in Greece, together with nearly all the Aegean TheLatin 
Islands. The chief crusaders formed part of the Empire of 
remaining territory into the Latin Empire of £°“ s e tanti " 
Constantinople. It was organized in fiefs, after 
the feudal manner. There was a prince of Achaia, a duke 
of Athens, a marquis of Corinth, and a count of Thebes. 
Large districts, in both Europe and Asia, did not acknowl¬ 
edge, however, these “Latin” rulers. The new empire lasted 
less than sixty years. At the end of this time the Greeks 
returned to power. 

1 See the plate facing page 411. 


482 


The Crusades 


Constanti¬ 
nople after 
the Fourth 
Crusade 


Constantinople, after the Fourth Crusade, declined in 
strength and could no longer cope with the barbarians 
menacing it. Two centuries later the city fell a 
victim to the Ottoman Turks (§ 164). The re¬ 
sponsibility for the disaster which gave the Turks 
a foothold in Europe rests on the heads of the 
Venetians and the French nobles. Their greed and lust for 
power turned the Fourth Crusade into a political adven¬ 
ture. 

The so-called Children’s Crusade illustrates at once the 
religious enthusiasm and misdirected zeal which marked 
The the whole crusading movement. Thousands of 

children’s French children assembled in bands and marched 
Crusade, 1212 the towns and villages, carrying ban¬ 

ners, candles, and crosses, and singing, “Lord God, exalt 
Christianity. Lord God, restore to us the true Cross.” The 
children could not be restrained at first, but finally hunger 
compelled them to return home. In Germany, during the 
same year, a lad named Nicholas really did succeed in launch¬ 
ing a Crusade. He led a mixed multitude of men and 
women, boys and girls over the Alps into Italy, where they 
expected to take ship for Palestine. Many perished of 
hardships, many were sold into slavery, and only a few ever 
saw their homes again. ‘ ‘ These children, ’ ’ Pope Innocent III 
declared, “put us to shame; while we sleep they rush to 
recover the Holy Land.” 

The crusading movement came to an end by the close of 
the thirteenth century. One of the Holy Roman Emperors 
End of the for a short time recovered Jerusalem by a treaty, 
Crusades but in 1244 the Holy City became again a pos¬ 
session of the Moslems. It remained in their hands until 
after the outbreak of the World War. Acre, the last Chris¬ 
tian post in Syria, fell in 1291, and with this event the Latin 
Kingdom of Jerusalem ceased to exist. The Hospitalers, 
or Knights of St. John, still kept possession of the important 
islands of Cyprus and Rhodes, which long served as a barrier 
to Moslem expansion over the Mediterranean. 


Results of the Crusades 


483 


159 . Results of the Crusades 

The Crusades, judged by what they set out to accomplish, 
must be accounted a failure. After two hundred years of 
conflict, after a vast expenditure of wealth and Failure of the 
human lives, the Holy Land remained in Moslem Crusades 
hands. It is true that the First Crusade did help, by the 
conquest of Syria, to check the advance of the Turks toward 
Constantinople. This benefit was 
more than undone by the weaken¬ 
ing of the Roman Empire in the 
East as a result of the Fourth Cru¬ 
sade. 

There were several reasons for 
the failure of the Crusades. In 
the first place, eastern Whythe 
and western Europe crusades 
did not cooperate in faUed 
supporting the holy wars. A united 
Christendom might well have been 
invincible, but the bitter antago¬ 
nism between the Greek Church 
and the Roman Church (§ 161) 
prevented all unity of action. The 
emperors at Constantinople, after the First Crusade, rarely 
assisted the crusaders and often secretly hindered them. 
In the second place, the lack of sea-power, as seen in the 
earlier Crusades, worked against their success. Instead of 
being able to go by water directly to Syria, it was neces¬ 
sary to follow the long, overland route from France or Ger¬ 
many through Hungary, Bulgaria, the territory of the Roman 
Empire in the East, and the deserts and mountains of Asia 
Minor. The armies that reached their destination after this 
toilsome march were in no condition for effective campaign¬ 
ing. In the third place, the crusaders were never numerous 
enough to colonize so large a country as Syria and absorb 
its Moslem population. They conquered part of Syria in the 



Seal of a Knight Templar 

Shows the Cross above the 
Crescent. 


484 


The Crusades 


Why the 
Crusades 
ceased 


First Crusade, but could not hold it permanently in the face 
of determined resistance. 

The Christians of Europe might have continued much 
longer their efforts to recover the Holy Land, had they not 
lost faith in the movement. But after two cen¬ 
turies the old crusading enthusiasm died out, the 
old ideal of the Crusade as “the way of God” lost 
its spell. Men had begun to think less of winning future 
salvation by visits to distant shrines and to think more of 
their present duties in the world about them. They came to 
believe that Jerusalem could best be won as the early 
Christians had won it— “by love, by prayers, and by the 
shedding of tears.” 

The Crusades could not fail to affect in many ways the life 
of western Europe. For instance, they helped to undermine 
influence of feudalism. Thousands of barons and knights 
the Crusades mortgaged or sold their lands in order to raise 
on feudalism mone y f or a crusading expedition. Thousands 
more perished in Syria, and their estates, through failure of 
heirs, went back to the Crown. Moreover, private warfare, 
that curse of the Middle Ages, also tended to die out with the 
departure for the Holy Land of so many unruly lords. 

The Crusades created a constant demand for the trans¬ 
portation of men and supplies, encouraged shipbuilding, 
and extended the market for eastern wares in 
Europe. The products of Damascus, Mosul, 
Alexandria, Cairo, and other great centers were 
carried across the Mediterranean to the Italian seaports, 
whence they found their way into all European lands. The 
elegance of the Near East was so enchanting that an en¬ 
thusiastic crusader called it “the vestibule of paradise.” 
We shall learn later (§ 179) how the Crusades, by fostering 
commerce, helped to build up the cities of the later Middle 
Ages. 

The Crusades also contributed to intellectual and social 
progress. They brought the inhabitants of western Europe 
into close relations with one another, with their fellow Chris- 


The Crusades 
and com¬ 
merce 


Results of the Crusades 


485 


tians of the Roman Empire in the East, and with the na¬ 
tives of Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt. The intercourse 
between Christians and Moslems was particularly The Crusades 
stimulating, because the Near East at this time and inteiiec- 
surpassed the West in civilization. The crusaders tual llfe 
enjoyed the advantages which come from travel in strange 
lands and among unfamiliar peoples. They went out from 
their castles or villages to see great cities, marble palaces, su¬ 
perb costumes, and elegant manners; they returned with finer 
tastes, broader ideas, and wider sympathies. The Crusades 
opened up a new world. 

The Crusades formed one of the most remarkable move¬ 
ments in history. They exhibited the nations of western 
Europe for the first time making a united effort significance 
for a common end. The crusaders were not hired of the 
soldiers, but volunteers, who, while the religious Crusades 
fervor lasted, gladly abandoned their homes and faced hard¬ 
ship and death in pursuit of a spiritual ideal. They failed 
to accomplish their purpose, yet humanity is the richer for 
the memory of their heroism and chivalry. 

For Explanation 

Latin Kingdom of Jeru 
salem 

Godfrey of Bouillon 
Holy Sepulcher 
Hospitalers 
Templars 
Saladin 

For Discussion 

1. Mention some instances which illustrate the religious enthusiasm of 
the crusaders. 

2. Compare the Moslem pilgrimage to Mecca with the pilgrimages of 
Christians to Jerusalem in the Middle Ages. 

3. Compare the Christian Crusade with the Mohammedan “holy war.” 

4. How did the expression, a “red-cross knight,” arise? 

5. Why has the Third Crusade been called “the most interesting inter¬ 
national expedition of the Middle Ages”? 


Frederick Barbarossa 
Richard the Lion- 
hearted 
Acre 

Latin Empire of Con¬ 
stantinople 
Children’s Crusade 


pilgrimage 

infidel 

sultanate of Rum 
Urban II 

Council of Clermont 
Peter the Hermit 
crusaders’ states 


486 


The Crusades 


6. Would the crusaders have attacked Constantinople in 1204, if the 
Greek and Roman Churches had not separated in 1054? 

7. “Mixture, or at least contact of races, is essential to progress.” How 
do the Crusades illustrate the truth of this statement? 

8. Were the Crusades the only means by which western Europe was 
brought in contact with Moslem civilization? 

9. “Never since the fall of Acre has Christendom acted as a united whole.” 
Explain this statement. 


For Further Study 


1. Identify the following dates: 1095, 1096, 1204, and 1291. 

2. Trace the routes of the first four Crusades (map between pages 480- 
481). 

3. Prepare an oral report on Richard the Lion-hearted as a crusader. 

4. Write a short essay describing the imaginary experiences of a crusader 
in the Holy Land. 

5. Look up the Children’s Crusade in reference books and report upon it 


to class. 


Supplementary 


Webster, Readings in Early European History, chapter xxxv, “Richard the 
Lion-hearted and the Third Crusade”; chapter xxxvi, “The Fourth 
Crusade and the Capture of Constantinople.” 



A Crusader’s Ship 




CHAPTER XXI 


THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE IN EASTERN EUROPE 

The Roman Empire, transplanted on to the Bosporus, maintained for 
many centuries an unbroken sequence of imperial life; retaining, trans¬ 
forming, and in part even developing the administrative system, the law, 
the literature, the arts of war, the industry, the commerce, which had 
once been concentrated by the Caesars in Italy. 

— Frederic Harrison 

160. “New Rome” 

If western Europe during the early Middle Ages presented 
a scene of violence and confusion, while the barbarian peoples 
were settling in their new homes, a different pic- The Greek 
ture was presented in eastern Europe. Here the or Byzantine 
Roman Empire survived and continued to up- Empire 
hold, for nearly a thousand years after the deposition of 
Romulus Augustulus, the Roman tradition of law and order. 
After 476 it is often called the “Greek Empire,” since it 
became more and more Greek in character, owing to the 
loss of the western provinces in the fifth century and then 
of Syria and Egypt in the seventh century. The name 
“Byzantine Empire,” which is in common use, most appro¬ 
priately describes the empire in still later times, when its 
possessions were reduced to Constantinople (ancient Byzan¬ 
tium) and the territory in the neighborhood of that city. 
Throughout this period the rulers at Constantinople regarded 
themselves as the true successors of Augustus, Diocletian, 
and Constantine. They never admitted the right of Charle¬ 
magne and Otto the Great to establish a rival Roman 
Empire in western Europe. They claimed to be the only 
legitimate heirs of “Old Rome.” 

The long life of the Byzantine Empire is one of the marvels 
487 


488 The Byzantine Empire in Eastern Europe 

of history. Its vitality seems the more remarkable when one 
considers that it had no easily defensible frontiers, contained 
vitality of the many different peoples with little in common, and 
empire on a u sides faced hostile states. The empire 
lasted so long because of its vast wealth and resources, its 
despotic, centralized government, the strength of its army, 
and the almost impregnable position occupied by Constan¬ 
tinople, the capital city. 

The history of the Byzantine Empire shows how constantly 
it was engaged in contests with Oriental peoples — first the 
importance of Persians, then the Arabs, and finally the Turks — 
the empire w ho attacked its domains. By resisting the ad¬ 
vance of the invaders, the old empire protected the young 
states of Europe until they had become strong enough to 
meet and repulse the hordes of Asia. This service was not 
less important than that which had been performed by Greece 
and Rome in the contests with the Persians and the Cartha¬ 
ginians .(§§ 41, 77). 


161. Culture of “New Rome” 


Byzantine 
commerce 
and industry 


The merchant ships of Constantinople carried on much of 
the commerce of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The 
products of Byzantine industry were exchanged 
at that city for the spices, drugs, and precious 
stones of the East. Byzantine wares also found 
their way into Italy and France and, by way of the Russian 
rivers, reached the heart of eastern Europe. Russia, in turn, 
furnished Constantinople with honey, wax, fur, wool, grain, 
and slaves. A medieval traveler well described the city as a 
metropolis “common to all the world, without distinction of 
country or religion.” 

Many of the emperors at Constantinople were great build¬ 
ers. Byzantine architecture became a leading form of art. 
Byzantine art mos t striking feature is the dome, which re¬ 
placed the flat, wooden roof used in the churches 
of Italy. The exterior of a Byzantine church is plain and 


Culture of “New Rome” 


489 


unimposing, but the interior is adorned on a magnificent 
scale. The eyes of the worshipers are dazzled by the walls 
faced with marble slabs of various colors, by the columns of 
polished marble, jasper, and porphyry, and by the brilliant 
mosaic pictures of gilded glass. The entire impression is 
one of richness and splendor. Byzantine artists, though not 
very good painters and sculptors, excelled in decorative art. 
Their carvings in wood and ivory and their work in metal, 
together with their embroideries, enamels, miniatures, and 
mosaics, enjoyed a high reputation in medieval Europe. 

Byzantine art has exerted a wide influence. Sicily, south¬ 
ern Italy, Rome, Ravenna, and Venice contain many ex¬ 
amples of Byzantine churches. Italian painting influence of 
in the Middle Ages seems to have been derived B y zantine art 
directly from the mosaic pictures of the artists of Constan¬ 
tinople. Russia received not only its religion but also its 
art from Constantinople. The great Russian churches of 
Moscow and Leningrad follow Byzantine models. Even the 
Arabs, in spite of their hostility to Christianity, employed 
Byzantine artists and profited by their services. The 
mosques of Damascus, Cairo, and Cordova, in both methods 
of construction and details of ornamentation, reproduce 
Byzantine styles. 

The libraries and museums of Constantinople preserved 
classical learning. The wisest men of the day resided in that 
city, where they taught philosophy, law, medi- Byzantine 
cine, and science to thousands of pupils. Byzan- scholarship 
tine students did not make many new discoveries, preferring 
to compile huge encyclopedias from the books which antiq¬ 
uity had handed down to them. Eastern Europe thus cher¬ 
ished the productions of antiquity until the time came when 
western Europe was ready to receive them and profit by 
them (§ 193). 

The reign of Justinian (527-565) is memorable for the 
codification of Roman law. This emperor appointed a com¬ 
mission of legal scholars to collect and arrange in scientific 
form, that is, to codify, all the sources of Roman law (§ 88). 


490 The Byzantine Empire in Eastern Europe 

These included the legislation of the popular assemblies, the 
decrees of the Senate, the edicts of praetors and emperors, 
The corpus an d the decisions of learned lawyers. The great 
juris civiiis code which was published is called the Corpus 
Juris Civiiis , the “Body of Civil Law.” It has 
become the foundation of the legal systems of modern Italy, 
Spain, France, Germany, and other European countries, and 
has even influenced the Common Law of England and the 



A Mosaic of Justinian 

A mosaic in the church of San Vitale, Ravenna, commemorating the dedication of the 
church in 547. Justinian is represented carrying a bowl, which probably contained a gift of 
gold. He is accompanied by Bishop Maximianus and clergy and surrounded by his suite 
and guards. There is no historical evidence that Justinian took part in the dedication of the 
church, but it is likely that he contributed to the expense of its decoration. 

United States. The Corpus Juris Civiiis , because of its wide¬ 
spread influence, is justly regarded as one of Rome’s most 
valuable gifts to the world. 

The division of the/Roman Empire brought about the 
separation of Christianity into two churches. The East- 
The Greek ern or Greek Church had for its head the patri- 
church arch of Constantinople, just as the Western or 

Roman Church had a head in the pope of Rome. The two 














Constantinople 491 

churches remained in formal unity until 1054, when disputes 
between them on points of doctrine led to their final rupture. 
They have never since united. The missionary zeal of the 
Greek Church resulted in the conversion of the barbarians 
who entered southeastern Europe during the early Middle 
Ages. At the present time, most of the Christian inhabitants 
of the Balkan peninsula, including Greeks, Jugoslavs, Bul¬ 
garians, and Rumanians, belong to the Greek Church. 1 Its 
greatest victory was the conversion of the Russians, toward 
the close of the tenth century (§ 123). With Christianity 
all these peoples received the use of letters and some knowl¬ 
edge of Roman law and methods of government. Constan¬ 
tinople was to them, henceforth, such a center of religion and 
culture as Rome was to the Germans. 

162. Constantinople 

The center of Byzantine culture was Constantinople. The 
city lies on a peninsula between the Sea of Marmora and 
the spacious harbor called the Golden Horn, site of Con- 
Washed on three sides by the water and, like stantinopie 
Rome, enthroned upon seven hills, Constantinople occupies 
a magnificent site, well-fitted for an imperial capital. It 
stands in Europe, looks on Asia, and commands the entrance 
to both the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. As an old 
writer once pointed out, Constantinople “is a city which 
nature herself has designed to be the mistress of the world.” 

Excepting Athens and Rome, no other European capital 
can lay claim to so long and so important a history as Con¬ 
stantinople. It was the largest, most populous, Constanti- 
and most wealthy city in medieval Europe. When nopiem 
London, Paris, and Venice were small and mean ory 
towns, visitors to Constantinople found paved and lighted 
streets, parks, public baths, hospitals, theaters, schools, 
libraries, museums, beautiful churches, and magnificent pal¬ 
aces, far surpassing anything in the West. The renown of 
1 See the map between pages 426-427. 


492 The Byzantine Empire in Eastern Europe 

Constantinople penetrated even into barbarian lands. The 
Northmen called it Micklegarth, the “Great City”; the 
Russians knew of it as Tsarigrad, the “City of the Caesars.” 



The position of Constantinople made it difficult to attack but easy to defend. To sur¬ 
round the city an enemy would have to be strong upon both land and sea. A hostile army, 
advancing through Asia Minor, found its farther advance arrested by the long, winding 
channel formed by the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmora, and the Dardanelles. A hostile fleet, 
coming by way of the Mediterranean or the Black Sea, faced difficulties in attempting to 
penetrate the narrow strait into which this waterway contracts at each extremity. On the 
landward side the line of defense was so short — about four miles in width — that it could 
be strongly fortified and held by a small force against large numbers. During the Middle 
Ages the rear of the city was protected by two huge walls, the remains of which are still 
visible. Constantinople, in fact, was all but impregnable. 

Neither name lacked appropriateness, but its own people 
best described it as the “City guarded by God.” Here was 
the capital of what remained of the Roman Empire. 

163. The Mongols 

The extensive steppes of central Asia have formed, for 
thousands of years, the abode of barbarous peoples belonging 
to the Mongoloid or yellow race. In prehistoric times they 


































































































































494 The Byzantine Empire in Eastern Europe 

spread over northern Europe, but they were gradually sup¬ 
planted by white-skinned Indo-Europeans, until now only 
Asiatic remnants of them exist, such as the Finns and 

invaders Lapps. History records how in later ages the 

Huns, the Bulgarians, and the Magyars poured into Europe, 
spreading terror and destruction in their path. These in¬ 
vaders were followed in the thirteenth and fourteenth cen¬ 
turies by the Mongols and Ottoman Turks. 


Hut-wagon of the Asiatic Nomads (Reconstruction) 

On the wagon was placed a sort of hut or pavilion made of wands bound together with nar¬ 
row thongs. The structure was then covered with felt or cloth and provided with latticed 
windows. Hut-wagons, being very light, were sometimes of enormous size. 

The Mongols, who have given their name to the entire 
race of yellow-skinned peoples, were nomads. They were 
Asiatic ever on the move, with their horses, camels, and 

nomadism cattle, from one pasturage to another. They 
dwelt in tents and hut-wagons. Severe simplicity was their 
rule of life, for property consisted of little more than flocks 
and herds, clothes, and weapons. Constant practice in rid¬ 
ing and scouting accustomed them to fatigue and hardship, 
and the daily use of arms made every man a soldier. To 
ruthless cruelty and passion for plunder they added an 
efficiency in warfare which enabled them, within half a 
century, to overrun much of Asia and the eastern part of 
Europe. 






The Mongols 


495 


The Mongol tribes had lived for ages in their Asiatic 
wilds, engaged in petty struggles with one another for cattle 
and pasture lands. It was the celebrated Jen- jenghiz 
ghiz Khan (“The Very Mighty King”), chief of Khan 
one of the tribes, who brought them all under his authority 
and united them into a great conquering host. It may be 
said of Jenghiz that he had the most victorious of military 
careers, and that he constructed the most extensive empire 
known to history. Had he also possessed the ability of a 
statesman, he would have taken a place by the side of Alex¬ 
ander the Great and Julius Caesar. Jenghiz first sent the 
Mongol armies over the Great Wall 
(§12) and into the fertile plains of 
China. Then Jenghiz turned west¬ 
ward and invaded Turkestan and 
Persia. Seven centuries have not 
sufficed to repair the damage which 
the Mongols wrought in these once- 
prosperous lands. The great cities of 
Bokhara, Samarkand, Merv, and 
Herat, long centers of Arabic culture, 
were pillaged and burnt, and their 
inhabitants were put to the sword. 

“No eye remained open to weep for 
the dead.” The sway of Jenghiz 
finally reached from the Dnieper River 
in Russia across Asia to the China Sea. His capital he fixed 
at Karakorum in Mongolia. He died in 1227, in his sixty- 
sixth year. 

The Mongol dominions were further enlarged by the suc¬ 
cessors of Jenghiz. The map shows what an enormous 
stretch of territory — Buddhist, Moslem, and Successors of 
Christian — was overrun by the Mongols. Their Jenghlz 
empire had a very loose organization, however, and before 
long it fell apart into a number of independent kingdoms, 
or khanates. One of these khanates, the so-called Golden 
Horde, ruled in Russia for over two hundred years. 



Jenghiz Khan 

After a portrait in the pos¬ 
session of a Mongol prince 
descended from the Khan. 






496 The Byzantine Empire in Eastern Europe 

It was reserved for another renowned Oriental ruler,, 
Timur the Lame (Tamerlane), to restore the empire of 
Timur the Jenghiz Khan. His biographers traced his de- 
Lame scent from that famous Mongol, but Timur was 

a Turk and an adherent of Islam. He has come down to 
us as perhaps the most terrible personification in history of 
the evil spirit of conquest. Such distant regions as India, 
Syria, Armenia, Asia Minor, and Russia were traversed by 
Timur’s soldiers, who left behind them only the smoking 
ruins of a thousand cities and abominable trophies in the 
shape of columns or pyramids of human heads. Timur 
died in 1405, while leading his troops against China, and 
the extensive empire which he had built up soon crumbled 
to pieces. 


164. The Ottoman Turks 

The Ottoman Turks were originally a small Turkish horde 
which had been driven westward from central Asia by the 
Rise of the Mongol advance. They settled in Asia Minor, 
ottomans where they enjoyed the protection of their kins¬ 
men, the Seljuk Turks (§ 153), and from them accepted 
Islam. As the Seljuk power declined, that of the Ottomans 
rose in its stead. Their chieftain, Othman (whence the 
name Ottoman), finally declared his independence and be¬ 
came the founder of the Turkish Empire. 

The growth of the Ottoman power was almost as rapid 
as that of the Mongols. During the first half of the four- 
ottoman teenth century they firmly established them- 

expansion selves in northwestern Asia Minor, along the 
beautiful shores washed by the Bosporus, the Sea of Mar¬ 
mora, and the Dardanelles. The second half of the same 
century found them in Europe, wresting province after prov¬ 
ince from the feeble hands of the Eastern emperors. All 
that now remained of the Byzantine Empire was Constan¬ 
tinople and a small district in the vicinity of that city. 

The Turks owed much of their success to a body of troops 


Empire of the Ottoman Turks at the Fall of Constantinople, 1453 








































































498 The Byzantine Empire in Eastern Europe 

known as Janizaries. These were recruited for the most 
part from Christian children surrendered by their parents as 
The tribute. The Janizaries received an education in 

janizaries the Moslem faith and careful instruction in the 
use of arms. Their discipline and fanatic zeal made them 
irresistible on the field of battle. 

Constantinople had never recovered from the blow inflicted 
upon it by the freebooters of the Fourth Crusade (§ 158). It 
capture of was isolated from western Europe by the advance 
Constanti- of the Turks. Frantic appeals for help brought 
nopie, 1453 on iy a f ew gftjpg anc [ men f rom Genoa and Venice. 
When in 1453 the sultan, Mohammed II, commanding a 
large army amply supplied with artillery, appeared before the 

walls, all men knew that 
Constantinople was 
doomed. The defenders 
were a mere handful 
compared to the Otto¬ 
man hordes, yet they 
held out for nearly two 
months against every 
assault. At length the 
enemy scaled the walls 
and entered the city. 
The emperor fell in the 
onrush of the Janizaries. 
Constantinople endured 
a sack of three days, 
during which many 
works of art, previously 
spared by the crusaders, were destroyed. Mohammed II 
then made a triumphal entry into the city and in the cathe¬ 
dral of Sancta Sophia, now stripped of its crosses, images, 
and other Christian emblems, proclaimed the faith of the 
Prophet. And so the “Turkish night” descended on this 
ancient home of civilization. 

The capture of Constantinople is rightly regarded as an 



Mohammed II 

A medal showing the strong face of the conqueror 
of Constantinople. 



The Ottoman Turks 


499 


epoch-making event. It meant the end of the empire which 
had served so long as the rear guard of Christian civilization, 
as the bulwark of the West against the East. An epoch- 
Europe stood aghast at a calamity which she had making event 
done so little to prevent. The Christian powers of the West 
have been paying dearly, even to our own time, for their 
failure to save “New Rome” from Turkish hands. 

The Ottoman Turks never really entered the European 
family of nations. They kept their Asiatic language and 
Moslem faith and remained in southeastern _ 

Southeastern 

Europe, not a passing scourge, but an abiding Europe under 
oppressor of Christian lands. They have never !j^ r ° s ttoinan 
created anything in science, art, literature, com¬ 
merce, or industry. Conquest was their one business in 
the world, and when they ceased conquering their decline set 
in. It was not until the end of the seventeenth century, 
however, that Turkey entered on that downward road which 
has now led to its practical extinction as a European power. 


For Explanation 


Roman Empire in the East 
Greek Empire 
Byzantine Empire 
Justinian 

Corpus Juris Civilis 


Greek Church 
Golden Horn 
Sancta Sophia 
New Rome 
Mongol 


Jenghiz Khan 
Timur the Lame 
Ottoman 
Janizaries 
Mohammed II 


For Discussion 

1. In your opinion which of the two rival imperial lines after 800 had the 
better claim to represent ancient Rome? 

2. Why has Justinian been called the “lawgiver of civilization”? 

3. Show that Constantinople formed “a natural citadel.” 

4 ’ The Byzantine Empire was once called a “gigantic mass of mold, a 
thousand years old.” Does this seem a fair description? 

5. Show that the Byzantine Empire was the “political heir” of Rome 
and the “intellectual heir” of Greece. 

6 . “For centuries Constantinople was the great bastion of Europe, pro¬ 
tecting it from the Mohammedan East.” Explain this statement. 


500 The Byzantine Empire in Eastern Europe 

7. “From the eighth to the twelfth century the world knew but two 
civilizations, that of Byzantium and that of the Arabs.” Comment 
on this statement. 

8. Why should the steppes of central and northern Asia have been a 
nursery of warlike peoples? 

9. What parts of Asia were not included in the Mongol dominions at 
their greatest extent? 

10. How was “the victory of the Crescent secured by the children of the 
Cross”? 

11. Comment on the significance of the capture of Constantinople in 1453. 

12. Why were the invasions of the Mongols and Ottoman Turks more 
destructive to civilization than those of the Germans, the Northmen, 
and the Arabs? 

For Further Study 

1. Compare the respective areas in 800 of the Roman Empire in the 
East and Charlemagne’s empire (map, page 366). 

2. Show that Constantinople occupies a strategic position (map, page 
492). 

3. Prepare an oral report on the cathedral of Sancta Sophia, Constanti¬ 
nople. If possible, show pictures of its exterior and interior. 

4. Look up in an encyclopedia or longer history an account of the careers 
of Jenghiz Khan and Timur the Lame. 

5. Study the expansion of the Mongols to show the Christian, Moslem, 
and Buddhist lands overrun by them (map, page 493). 

6. Write down, as in a diary kept by a Christian defender of Constan¬ 
tinople, the successive events in the siege and capture of that city by 
the Ottoman Turks. 


Supplementary 

Webster and Webb, Historical Outline Maps and Exercises: Early European 
History, No. XVIII, Empire of the Ottoman Turks at the Fall of Con¬ 
stantinople (1453). 


CHAPTER XXII 


MEDIEVAL NATIONS 

The history of the political system of Europe must not be confounded 
with the history of the separate states of which it is composed. Each state 
has a life of its own, and its citizens live together and form one society; 
but the states of Europe have to live together too, and they likewise form 
one society. — a. H. L. Heeren 

165. Growth of the Nations 

The map of western Europe, that is, of Europe west of the 
great Russian plain and the Balkan peninsula, showed this 
part of the Continent at the beginning of the The new 
twentieth century divided among no less than nationalism 
thirteen separate and independent nations. Nearly all of 
them arose during the lat¬ 
ter part of the Middle 
Ages. They have existed 
so long that we now think 
of the national state as the 
highest type of human 
association, forgetting that 
it has been preceded by 
other forms of political 
organization, such as the 
Greek city-state, the Ro¬ 
man Empire, and the feu¬ 
dal state, and that it may 
be followed some day by 
an international or uni¬ 
versal state forming a federation of all civilized peoples. 

These national states were the successors of feudalism. 
The complete establishment of feudalism in any country 

501 



King and Jester 

After a manuscript of the early fifteenth cen¬ 
tury. The artist has inserted his picture 
within the initial letter “ D.” 






502 


Medieval Nations 


meant, as has been shown (§ 129), the building up of numer¬ 
ous small communities, each with an army, law court, and 
Feudalism treasury. A king was sometimes little more than 
and royalty a figurehead, equaled or perhaps surpassed in 
power by some of his own vassals. The sovereigns, who 
found themselves unable to assert complete authority, were 
naturally anti-feudal, and during the later Middle Ages 
they began to get the upper hand of their nobles. They 
formed permanent armies by insisting that all military serv¬ 
ice should be rendered to themselves and not to the feudal 
lords. They put down private warfare between the nobles 
and took over the administration of justice. They developed 
a revenue system, with the taxes collected by royal officers 
and deposited in the royal treasury. The sovereigns thus 
created a unified , centralized government, which all their 
subjects feared, respected, and obeyed. 

The triumph of royalty over feudalism was in many ways 
a gain for civilization. Feudalism, though better than 
The new anarchy, did not meet the needs of a progressive 

monarchies society. Only strong-handed kings could keep 

the peace, punish crime, and foster industry and trade. 

The kings, of course, were generally despotic, repressing not 
only the privileges of the nobles but also popular liberty. 
Democracy, the rule of the people, did not flourish during 
the Middle Ages. 

The new monarchies, by breaking down feudalism, pro¬ 
moted the growth of national and patriotic feelings. Loyalty 
The senti- to the sovereign and to the State that he gov- 

mentof erned gradually replaced allegiance to the feu- 

nationaiity ^al lord. Nobles, clergy, city folk, and peasants 

began to think of themselves as one people with one “ father- 
land.’' This sentiment of nationality arose earlier in Eng¬ 
land than on the Continent, partly because of the insular 
situation of that country. It also developed in France, 
Spain, and some other countries during the later centuries 
of the Middle Ages. Since then it has been a very strong 
influence in European politics. 


William the Conqueror raised the great central keep, or White Tower, so called because it was once whitewashed. The inner wall, with its thirteen 
turrets, was added by William Rufus, the Conqueror’s son; the moat by Richard I; and the outer wall by Henry III. The tower has been a fortress, 
a palace, and a prison; it now serves as a government arsenal, historical museum, and repository for the Crown jewels. 

























































































































504 


Medieval Nations 


166 . The Norman Kingship 

William the Conqueror (§ 126) had won England by force 
of arms. He ruled it as a despot. Those who resisted him 
wuiiam the h e treated as rebels, confiscating their land and 
Conqueror, giving it to Norman followers. To prevent up- 
1066-1087 risings, he built a castle in every important town 
and garrisoned it with his own soldiers. The Tower of Lon¬ 
don still stands as an impressive memorial of the days of 
the Conquest. William did not rely on force alone. He 
sought with success to attach the English to himself by 
keeping most of their old customs and by giving them an 
enlightened administration of the law. “Good peace he 
made in this land,” said the old Anglo-Saxon chronicler, “so 
that a man might travel over the kingdom with his bosom full 
of gold without molestation, and no man durst kill another, 
however great the injury he might have received from him.” 

The feudal system permitted a powerful noble to gather 
his vassals and make war on the king whenever he chose 
William and to do so * William had been familiar with this 
feudalism evil side of feudalism, in both France and his 
own duchy of Normandy, and he determined to 
prevent its introduction into England. William established 
the principle that a vassal owed his first duty to the king 
and not to his immediate lord. If a noble rebelled and his 
men followed him, they were to be treated as traitors. 
Rebellion proved to be an especially difficult matter in Eng¬ 
land, since the estates which a great lord possessed were not 
all in any one place but were scattered about the kingdom. 
A noble who planned to revolt could be put down before 
he was able to collect his retainers from the most distant 
parts of the country. 

The extent of William’s authority is shown by the survey 
which he caused to have made of the taxable property of the 
Domesday kingdom. Royal commissioners went through- 
Book out the length and breadth of England to find out 

how much farm land there was in every county, how many 


505 


Royal Justice and the Common Law 

landowners there were, and what each man possessed, to 
the last ox or cow or pig. The reports were set down in the 
famous Domesday Book, perhaps so called because one could 
no more appeal from it than from the Last Judgment. A 
similar census of population and property had never before 
been taken in the Middle Ages. 

167. Royal Justice and the Common Law 

A grandson of William the Conqueror, Henry II, was the 
first of the Plantagenet family. This name comes from that 
of the broom plant (Latin planta genesta), a sprig Henry n 5 
of which Henry’s father used to wear in his hat. P|antagen et , 
Henry spent more than half of his reign abroad, 
looking after his extensive possessions in France, but this 
fact did not prevent him from giving England good govern¬ 
ment. Three things in which all Englishmen take special 
pride — the courts, the jury system, and the Common Law 
— began to take shape during Henry’s reign. 

Henry, first of all, developed the royal court of justice. 
This had been, at first, simply the court of the king’s chief 
vassals, corresponding to the local feudal courts. The king’s 
Henry transformed it from an occasional assem- court 
bly of warlike nobles into a regular body of trained judges, 
and at the same time opened its doors to all except serfs. 
The higher courts of England have sprung from this insti¬ 
tution. . 

Henry also took measures to bring the king’s justice di¬ 
rectly to the people. He sent members of the royal court 
on circuit throughout the kingdom. At least Circuit j udges 
once a year a judge was to hold an assembly in 
each county and try such cases as were brought before him. 
This system of circuit judges helped to make the law uni¬ 
form in all parts of England. 

The king’s court owed much of its popularity to the fact 
that it employed a better form of trying cases than the old 
ordeal, oath-swearing, or judicial duel (§ 130). Henry in- 


506 


Medieval Nations 


troduced the method of trial by jury. When a case came 
before the king’s judges on circuit, they were to select twelve 
Trial by the knights, usually neighbors of the parties engaged 
“ P ett y J‘ ur y ” in the dispute, to make an investigation and give 
a verdict as to which side was in the right. These selected 
men bore the name of “jurors,” because they swore to tell 
the truth. Thus arose the “petty jury,” an institution 
which nearly all European peoples have borrowed from 
England. 

Another of Henry’s innovations developed into the “grand 
jury.” Before his time many offenders went unpunished, 
especially if they were so powerful that no private 

Accusd/tion 1. j j i. i 

by the individual dared accuse them. Henry provided 
“ gra ? d that when the king’s judges came to a county 
court a number of selected men should be put 
upon their oath and required to give the names of any 
persons whom they knew or believed to be guilty of crimes. 
Such persons were then to be arrested and tried. This 
“grand jury,” as it came to be called, thus had the public 
duty of making accusations, whether its members felt any 
personal interest in the matter or not. 

The decisions handed down by the legal experts who com¬ 
posed the royal court formed the basis of the English Com- 
The common mon Law. It received this name because it grew 
Law out of such customs as were common to the realm, 

as distinguished from those which were purely local. The 
Common Law, from Henry II’s time, became so widespread 
and so firmly established that it could not be supplanted by 
the Roman law followed on the Continent. English colonists 
carried it across the seas, so that it now prevails throughout 
a great part of the world. 

168. The Great Charter 

Henry II was followed on the throne by his son, Richard, 
the lion-hearted crusader (§ 157). Richard, after a short 
reign, was succeeded by his brother John, a man so cruel, 


The Great Charter 


507 


tyrannical, and wicke$ that he is usually regarded as the 
worst of English kings. John’s oppressive government 
finally provoked a revolt of the feudal lords, the Winning of 
clergy, and the commons. The nobles formed Magna Carta, 
the “army of God and the Holy Church,’’ as 1215 
it was called, and occupied London, thus ranging the towns¬ 
people on their side. John was compelled to yield. At Run- 
nimede on the Thames, not far from London, he set his seal 



Extract from the Great Charter 


Facsimile of the opening lines. Four copies of Magna Carta, sealed with the great seal of 
King John, as well as several unsealed copies, are in existence. The British Museum pos¬ 
sesses two of the sealed copies; the other two belong to the cathedrals of Lincoln and 
Salisbury, respectively. 


to the famous grant of privileges known as Magna Carta 
(the Great Charter). 

Magna Carta does not profess to be a charter of liberties 
for all Englishmen. Most of its sixty-three clauses merely 
guarantee to each member of the coalition against character of 
John — nobles, clergy, and commons — those Magna carta 
special privileges which the Norman rulers had (313) 
tried to take away. Very little is said in this long document 
about the serfs, who composed probably five-sixths of the 
population of England in the thirteenth century. 

There are, however, three clauses of Magna Carta which 
came to have a most important part in the history of English 
freedom. The first declared that no taxes were to be levied 



508 


Medieval Nations 


on the nobles — besides the three recognized feudal aids 
(§ 129) — except by consent of the Great Council of the 
significance realm. By this clause the nobles compelled the 
of Magna king to secure their approval before imposing any 
taxation. The second set forth that no freeman 
was to be arrested, imprisoned, or punished in any way, ex¬ 
cept after a trial by his equals and in accordance with the 
law of the land. The third said simply that to no one should 
justice be sold, denied, or delayed. These last two clauses 
contained the germ of great legal principles on which the 
English people relied for protection against despotic kings. 
They form a part of our American inheritance from England 
and have passed into the laws of all our states. 


169. The English Parliament 

The thirteenth century, which opened with the winning 
of the Great Charter, is also memorable as the time when 
The wite England developed her Parliament into some- 
nagemotand thing like its present form. The first steps in 
CoundT* parliamentary government were taken during 
the reign of John’s son, Henry III. It had long 
been the custom in England that in all important matters 
a ruler ought not to act without the advice and consent of 
his leading men. The Anglo-Saxon kings sought the advice 
and consent of the Witenagemot, an assembly of nobles, royal 
officers, bishops, and abbots (§ 126). The Witenagemot did 
not disappear after the Norman Conquest. Under the name 
of the Great Council, it continued to meet from time to time 
for consultation with the king. This assembly was now to 
be transformed from a feudal body into a parliament repre¬ 
senting the nation. 

The Great Council, which by one of the provisions of 
Magna Carta had been required to give its consent to the 
levying of taxes, met quite frequently during Henry Ill’s 
reign. On one occasion, when Henry was in urgent need of 
money and the bishops and lords refused to grant it, the 


The English Parliament 


509 


king took the significant step of calling to the council two 
knights from each county to declare what aid they would give 
him. These knights, so ran Henry’s summons, gimon de 
were to come “in the stead of each and all, in Montfort’s 
other words, they were to act as representatives ^ 2 a 6 r i iament ’ 
of the counties. Then in 1265, when the no¬ 
bles were at war with the king, a second and even more 
significant step was taken. Their leader, Simon de Montfort, 



A Sitting of Parliament at Westminster 

After an old manuscript. 

summoned to the council not only two knights from each 
county, but also two citizens from each of the more important 

towns. . 

The custom of selecting certain men to act m the name 
and on the behalf of the community had existed during 
Anglo-Saxon times in local government. Repre- The repre- 
sentatives of the counties had been employed by senta«ve 
the Norman kings to assess and collect taxes. As 
we have just learned, the grand juries of Henry II also con- 
























510 


Medieval Nations 


sisted of such representatives. The English people, in fact, 
were quite familiar with the idea of representation long be¬ 
fore they began to apply it on a more comprehensive scale 
to Parliament. 

Simon de Mont fort’s Parliament included only his own 
supporters and hence was not a truly national body. How- 
“ Model ever > it made a precedent for the future. Thirty 
Parliament” years later Edward I called together at West- 
1295 ^( 315 ) I} m i nster » now a P art °f London, a Parliament 
which included all classes of the people. Here 
were present archbishops, bishops, and abbots, earls and 
barons, two knights from every county, and two citizens 
to represent each town in that county. After this time all 
these classes were regularly summoned to meet in assembly. 

The two chambers (Houses) of Parliament existed as early 
as the fourteenth century. The House of Lords included 
Lords and the nobles and higher clergy; the House of 
commons Commons contained the representatives from 
counties and towns. This bicameral arrangement, as it is 
called, has been followed in the parliaments of most modern 
countries. 

The early English Parliament was not a law-making but a 
tax-voting body. The king would call the two chambers in 
Powers of session only when he needed their sanction for 
Parliament raising money. Parliament, in its turn, would 
refuse to grant supplies until the king had corrected abuses 
in the administration or had removed unpopular officials. 
This control of the public purse in time enabled Parliament 
to grasp other powers. It became an accepted principle 
that royal officials were responsible to Parliament for their 
actions, that the king himself might be deposed for good 
cause, and that bills, when passed by Parliament and signed 
by the king, were the law of the land. England thus worked 
out in the Middle Ages a system of parliamentary govern¬ 
ment which nearly all civilized nations have held worthy 
of imitation. England has been well called the “Mother 
of Parliaments. ” 


Dominions of William the Conqueror, 1066-87 


Wales: Independence suppressed by Edward I, 

1284; incorporated with England by Henry VIII, 11536 

Scotland: Independence recognized by Edward SHETLA nd 
111,1328; joined with England in a personal union un- 
~der James I, 1603; legislative union with England,11707 
Ireland: Conquest completed by Cromwell, 1649;- 
united with Great Britain, 1801 

i 

_____ English Pale at the end of the 15th century 



The British Isles during the Middle Ages 














































512 


Medieval Nations 


170. Expansion of England 


Wales 


The conquest of Britain by the Anglo-Saxons drove many 
of the Welsh, as the invaders called the Britons, into the 
western part of the island. This district, hence¬ 
forth known as Wales, was one of the last strong¬ 
holds of the Celts. Even to-day a variety of the old Celtic 
language, called Cymric, is still spoken by the Welsh people. 

The Welsh long resisted all 
attempts to subjugate them. 
Wales William the Con- 

annexed queror ruled part 
of Wales; Henry II induced 
the local rulers to acknowledge 
him as overlord; but it was 
Edward I who brought all 
Wales under English sway. 
Edward fostered the building 
of towns in his new posses¬ 
sion, divided it into counties, 
or shires, after the system that 
prevailed in England, and in¬ 
troduced the Common Law. 
He called his son, Edward II, 
who was born in the country, 
the “Prince of Wales,” and 
this title has ever since been 
borne by the heir apparent to 
the English throne. The work 
of uniting Wales to England 
went on slowly, and two centuries passed before Wales 
received representation in the House of Commons. 

Scotland has its name from the Scots, who came over 
from Ireland early in the fifth century. The Highlands, a 
Scotland nes t of rugged mountains washed by cold and 
stormy seas, have always been occupied in his¬ 
toric times by a Celtic-speaking people, whose language. 



Coronation Chair, West¬ 
minster Abbey 

Every English ruler since Edward I 
has been crowned in this oak chair. 
Under the seat is the “Stone of Scone,” 
said to have been once used by the patri¬ 
arch Jacob. Edward I brought it to 
London in 1291, as a token of the sub¬ 
jection of Scotland. 






513 


Expansion of England 

called Gaelic, is not yet extinct there. This part of Scotland, 
like Wales, was a home of freedom. The Romans did not 
attempt to annex the Highlands, and the Anglo-Saxons and 
Danes never penetrated their fastnesses. The Lowlands, 
which include only about one-third of the country, were 
subdued by the Germanic invaders, and so this district be¬ 
came thoroughly English in language and culture. 

Edward I, having conquered Wales, took advantage of the 
disturbed conditions which prevailed in Scotland to interfere 
in the affairs of that country. The Scotch offered Scotland 
a brave but futile resistance under William Wal- annexed 
lace. This heroic leader, who held out after most of his 
countrymen submitted, was finally captured and executed. 
The English king now annexed Scotland without further 
opposition. 

The Scotch soon found another champion in the person of 
Robert Bruce. Edward I marched against him, but died be¬ 
fore reaching the border. The weakness of his Robert Bruce 
son, Edward II, permitted the Scotch, ably led by and Ban- 
Bruce, to win the signal victory of Bannockburn, ^kbum, 
near Stirling Castle. Here the Scottish spear¬ 
men drove the English knighthood into headlong flight and 
freed their country from its foreign overlords. 

The battle of Bannockburn made a nation. A few years 
afterward the English formally recognized the Scottish 
independence of Scotland. The great design of ^dependence 
Edward I to unite all the peoples of Britain under one gov¬ 
ernment had to be postponed for centuries. 

No one kingdom ever arose in Ireland out of the numerous 
tribes into which the Celtic-speaking inhabitants were di¬ 
vided. The English, who first entered the coun- Ireland 
try during the reign of Henry II, for a long time 
held only a small district about Dublin known as the Pale . 1 
The conquest of Ireland was not completed until the seven¬ 
teenth century. Ireland by its situation could scarcely fail 
to become dependent on Great Britain, but the dividing sea 
1 See the map, page 511. 


514 


Medieval Nations 


combined with differences in race, language, and religion, 
and with English misgovernment, to prevent anything like 
a genuine union of the conquerors and the conquered. 

171. Unification of France 

Nature seems to have intended that France should play a 
leading part in European affairs. The geographical unity of 
physical the country is obvious. Mountains and seas 
France form its permanent boundaries, except on the 

northeast, where the frontier is not well defined. The western 
coast of France opens on the Atlantic, now the greatest high¬ 
way of the world’s commerce, while on the southeast, France 
touches the Mediterranean, the home of classical civilization. 
This intermediate position between two seas helps to explain 
why French history should form, as it were, a connecting 
link between ancient and modern times. 

The greatness of France has been due, also, to the qualities 
of the French people. Many racial elements have contributed 
Racial to the population. The blood of prehistoric 

France tribes, whose monuments and grave mounds are 
scattered over the land, still flows in the veins of Frenchmen. 
At the opening of historic times France was chiefly occupied 
by the Gauls, whom Julius Caesar found there and subdued 
(§ 81). The Gauls, a Celtic-spfekking people, formed in later 
ages the main stock of the French nation, but their language 
gave place to Latin after the Roman conquest. The Gauls 
were so thoroughly Romanized that they may best be de¬ 
scribed as Gallo-Romans. The Burgundians, Franks, and 
Northmen afterward added a Germanic element to the 
population, as well as some Germanic laws and customs. 

France, again, became a great nation because of the great¬ 
ness of its rulers. Hugh Capet, who moi&ited the French 
The Capetian throne in 987 (§ 124), was fortrtaate in his de¬ 
dynasty scendants. The Capetian dynasty was long- 
lived, and for more than three centuries son followed father 
on the throne without a break in the succession. The French 


Unification of France 


515 


sovereigns worked steadily to exalt the royal power and to 
unite the feudal states of medieval France into a real nation 
under a common government. Their success in this task 



Royal Domain of 
Hugh Capet, 987 A.D 


A Note: 

Fief of Orleans was 
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Unification of France during the Middle Ages 


made them, at the close of the Middle Ages, the strongest 
monarchs in Europe. 

Hugh Capet’s duchy —the original France — included 
only a small stretch of inland country centering about Paris 



























Medieval Nations 


51(? 

on the Seine and Orleans on the Loire. His election to 
the kingship did not increase his power over the great lords 
The French who ruled in Normandy, Brittany, Aquitaine, 
kingship Burgundy, and other parts of the country. They 

did homage to the king for their fiefs and performed the 
usual feudal services, but otherwise regarded themselves as 

independent in their own terri¬ 
tories. 

The most considerable addi¬ 
tions to the royal domains, or 
Philip ii, territories under the 

Augustus, king’s control, were 

1180-1223 those of Philip II, 

called Augustus. Reference has 
already been made to his con¬ 
test with Pope Innocent III 
and to his participation in the 
Third Crusade (§§ 146, 157). 
The English king, John, was 
Philip’s vassal for Normandy 
and other provinces in France. 
A quarrel between the two 
rulers gave Philip an oppor¬ 
tunity to declare John’s fiefs 

forfeited by feudal law. Philip then seized all the English 
possessions north of the river Loire, thus adding greatly 
to the French territory and population. Philip made Paris 
his chief residence, and that city henceforth became the 
capital of France. 

During the long reign of Philip’s grandson, Louis IX, rich 
districts to the west of the Rhone were added to the royal do- 
Louisix, the ma ins. This king, whose Christian virtues led 
Saint, 1226- to his canonization, distinguished himself as an 

1270 (317) . . ° 

administrator. His work of unifying France 
may be compared with that of Henry II in England. He 
decreed that only the king’s money was to circulate in the 
provinces owned directly by himself, thus limiting the right 









The Hundred Years’ War 


517 


of coinage enjoyed by feudal lords. He restricted very 
greatly the right of private war and forbade the use of ju¬ 
dicial duels. Louis also provided that important cases could 
be appealed from feudal courts to the king’s judges, who sat 
in Paris and followed in their decisions the principles of 
Roman law. 

The grandson of St. Louis, Philip IV, did much to organ¬ 
ize a financial system for France. Now that the kingdom had 
become so large and powerful, the old feudal dues Philip IV> the 
were insufficient to pay the salaries of the royal Fair, 1285- 
officials and support a standing army. Philip 1314 
resorted to new methods of raising revenue by imposing 
various taxes and by requiring the feudal lords to substitute 
payments in money for the military service due from them. 

Philip also called into existence the Estates-General, an 
assembly in which the clergy, the nobles, and representatives 
from the commons (the Third Estate) met as TheEstates- 
separate bodies and voted grants of money. General 
The Estates-General arose almost at the same time as the 
English Parliament, to which it corresponded, but it never 
gained the great authority of that body. The kings of 
France became in time so powerful that they managed to 
rule without once summoning the nation in council. The 
French did not succeed, as the English had done, in found¬ 
ing political liberty upon the control of taxation by a repre¬ 
sentative assembly. 

172. The Hundred Years’ War between 
England and France 

The period of the later Middle Ages was marked by a long 
and deplorable war between France and England. It con¬ 
tinued, including periods of truce, for over a origin of 
century. The origin of the war must be sought the war 
in the constant efforts of the French rulers to complete the 
unification of their country through the acquisition of Eng¬ 
lish territory in southwestern France. At length, King 


518 


Medieval Nations 


PI 



plf 


Philip VI began hostilities by declaring the French domin¬ 
ions of Edward III to be forfeited to him and by sending out 
a fleet which ravaged the English coast. Edward III, in 
return, set up an absurd claim to the French throne and pre¬ 
pared by force of arms to make his claim good. Henceforth 
it was a question whether the English were to be completely 
expelled from France or whether both 
France and England were to form a 
united monarchy under an English king. 
The Hundred Years’ War finally settled 
this question. 

Edward led his troops across the 
Channel and at Crecy in 1346 gained 
Battles of a complete victory over the 
Crecy and knighthood of France. 

Poitiers Ten years later the English 

at Poitiers almost annihilated another 
French force much superior in num¬ 
bers. These two battles were mainly 
won by foot-soldiers armed with the 
long bow, in the use of which the Eng¬ 
lish excelled. Ordinary iron mail could 
not resist the heavy, yard-long arrows, 
which fell with murderous effect upon 
the bodies of men and horses alike. 
Henceforth infantry, when properly 
armed and led, were to prove themselves on many a bloody 
field more than a match for feudal cavalry (§ 131). 

Edward’s son, the Prince of Wales, when only sixteen 
years of age, won his spurs by distinguished conduct at 
The “Black Crecy. It was the “Black Prince,” also, who 
Pnnce ” gained the day at Poitiers, where he took prisoner 
the French king, John. We are told that he treated his royal 
captive with the utmost consideration. At supper, on the 
evening of the battle, he stood behind John’s chair and 
waited on him, praising the king’s brave deeds. This 
“flower of knighthood,” who regarded warfare as only a 


Royal Arms of 
Edward III 

Edward III, having in 1340 
set up a claim to the throne 
of France, proceeded to add 
the French lilies ( fleurs-de-lis) 
to his coat of arms. He also 
took as his motto Dieu et mon 
Droit (‘‘God and my Right”). 
The lilies of France remained 
in the royal arms until 1801; 
the motto is still retained. 









CHOIR OF WESTMINSTER ABBEY 

The church formerly attached to the Benedictine abbey of St. Peter in Westminster 
was built in the 13 th century, upon the site of an earlier church raised by Edward the 
Confessor in the nth century. Since the Norman Conquest all but one of the English sov¬ 
ereigns have been crowned here, and until the time of George III, it served as their last rest¬ 
ing place. The abbey is now England’s Hall of Fame, where many of her distinguished 
statesmen, warriors, poets, artists, and scientists are buried. 

































































































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The Hundred Years' War 


519 


tournament on a larger scale, could be ruthless in his treat¬ 
ment of the common people. On one occasion he caused 
three thousand inhabitants of a captured town — men, 
women, and children — to be butchered before his eyes. 



Battle of Crecy 

After a manuscript in the Bibliothdque Nationale, Paris. 


The incident shows how far apart in the Middle Ages were 
chivalry and humanity. 

The English, in spite of their victories, could not conquer 
France. The French refused to fight more pitched battles 
and retired to their castles and walled towns. Battle of 
The war almost ceased for many years after the Agincourt, 
death of Edward III. It began again, early in 1415 
the fifteenth century, when another English king, Henry V, 
put forward a claim to the throne of France. The battle 
which he won over the French at Agincourt was even more 
surprising than the victories of Crecy and Poitiers, for his 
army was outnumbered, six to one, and had to take the often- 
















520 


Medieval Nations 


sive instead of being attacked in a strong position. Agin- 
court is a proud name in the military annals of England. 

“Upon Saint Crispin’s Day 
Fought was this noble fray; 

Which Fame did not delay 
To England to carry. 

O, when shall English men 
With such acts fill a pen ? 

Or England breed again 
Such a King Harry ? ” 


The English now gained possession of almost all France 
north of the Loire River, except the important city of 
The “Maid Orleans. Had they taken it, the French resist- 
of Orleans,” ance must have collapsed. That they did not 
take it was due to one of the most remarkable 
women in history — Joan of Arc. She was a peasant girl, 
quite uneducated, a native of the village of Domremy in 
the northeast of France. Always a devout and imaginative 
child, she early began to see visions of saints and angels and 
to hear mysterious voices. At the time of the siege of 
Orleans the archangel Michael appeared to her, so she de¬ 
clared, and bade her go forth and save France. Joan obeyed, 
and though barely seventeen years of age made her way to 
the court of the French king. There her piety, simplicity, 
and evident faith in her mission overcame all doubts. Clad 
in armor, girt with an ancient sword, said to have been 
wielded by Charles Martel at the battle of Tours, and with 
a white banner borne before her, Joan was allowed to 
accompany an army for the relief of Orleans. She inspired 
the French with such enthusiasm that they quickly com¬ 
pelled the English to raise the siege. Joan then led her king 
to Reims and stood beside him at his coronation in the 
cathedral. 

Joan was soon afterward captured by the English, who 
burned her as a witch at Rouen. She had not lived in vain, 
however, for she became a national heroine, and her exam- 


521 


' Unification of Spain 

pie nerved the French to further resistance. The English 
gradually lost ground, and in 1453, the year of the fall of 
Constantinople (§ 164), abandoned the effort to outcome of 
conquer a land much larger than their own. They the war 
kept of the French territories only the port of Calais and the 
Channel Islands. Calais was later restored to France. 

Shortly after the conclusion of the Hundred Years’ War, 
the two branches of the English royal family became involved 
in a desperate struggle for the Crown. It was England aft er 
known as the War of the Roses, because the the Hundred 
House of York took as its badge a white rose and Years War 
the House of Lancaster, a red rose. The contest lasted till 
1485, when the Lancastrians conquered, and their leader, 
Henry Tudor, ascended the throne as Henry VII. He mar¬ 
ried a Yorkish wife, thus uniting the two factions, and 
founded the Tudor dynasty. The War of the Roses arrested 
the progress of English freedom. It created a demand for 
a strong monarchy which could keep order and prevent civil 
strife between the nobles. The Tudors met that demand 
and ruled as absolute sovereigns. 

France also issued from the Hundred Years’ War with an 
absolute government. Strengthened by victory over the 
English, the French kings were able to reduce France after 
both the nobility and the commons to impotence, Hundred 
At the same time they steadily enlarged the royal Years 
domains, until by the end of the fifteenth century the unifica¬ 
tion of France was almost complete. 

173. Unification of Spain 

The geography of the Iberian peninsula has in some ways 
clearly molded its history. The Pyrenees, lofty, forbidding, 
and provided with few passes, isolated Spain and The Iberian 
Portugal from the rest of Europe far more effec- peninsula 
tively than the Alps isolated Italy. On the other hand, the 
nearness of the peninsula to Africa brought it into intimate 
relations with the northern coast of that continent. 


522 


Medieval Nations 


The first settlers in Spain, of whom we know anything, were 
the Iberians. They may have emigrated from northern 
The Spanish Africa. After them came Celtic-speaking tribes, 
people w ho overran a large part of the peninsula and 

seem to have mingled with the Iberians, thus forming the 
mixed people known as Celtiberians. Spain in historic times 



Unification of Spain during the Middle Ages 


was conquered by the Carthaginians, who left few traces of 
their occupation; by the Romans, who thoroughly Roman¬ 
ized the country; by the Visigoths, who founded a Germanic 
kingdom; and lastly by the Moors (Arabs and Berbers), who 
introduced Arabic culture and the faith of Islam. 

The Moors never wholly conquered a fringe of mountain 
territory in the extreme north of Spain. Here a number of 
Christian small Christian states, including Leon, Castile, 
states of Navarre, and Aragon, came into being. The 

Spam Christian state of Portugal also arose in the west 

of the peninsula. Geographically, Portugal belongs to Spain, 



















































523 


Unification of Spain 

from which it is separated only by artificial frontiers, but 
the country has usually managed to keep its independence. 

The Christian states fought steadily to enlarge their bound¬ 
aries at the expense of their Moslem neighbors. The contest 
was blessed by the pope and supported by the Recovery 0 f 
chivalry of Europe. Periods of victory alternated Spain from 
with periods of defeat, but by the close of the the Moors 
thirteenth century Moorish Spain had been reduced to the 
kingdom of Granada at the southern extremity of the 
peninsula. 

The long struggle with the Moors made the Spanish a 
patriotic people, keenly conscious of their national unity. 
The achievements of Christian warriors were re- 

. The Cid 

cited in countless ballads, and especially m the 
fine Poem of the Cid. It deals with the exploits of Rodrigo 
Diaz, better known by the title of the Cid (lord) given to 
him by the Moors. The Cid of romance was the embodiment 
of every knightly virtue; the real Cid was a bandit, who 
fought sometimes for the Christians, sometimes against them, 
but always in his own interests. The Cid’s evil deeds were 
forgotten after his death, and he became the national hero 
of Spain. 

Meanwhile, the separate Spanish kingdoms were coming 
together to form a nation. Leon and Castile combined into 
the one kingdom of Castile, so named because its Union of 
frontiers bristled with castles against the Moors. Castne and 
The next important step in the making of Spain s 
was the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon to Isabella of 
Castile, leading to the union of these two kingdoms. About 
the same time the Castilian language began to crowd out 
the other Spanish dialects and to become the national speech. 

The new sovereigns of Spain continued their unifying work 
by conquering the Moorish kingdom of Granada. No effort 
was made by the Ottoman Turks, who shortly Conquest of 
before had captured Constantinople in eastern Granada, 
Europe, to defend this last stronghold of Islam in 
western Europe. The Moors, though thrown upon their 


524 


Medieval Nations 


own resources, made a gallant resistance. At least once 
Ferdinand wearied of the struggle, but Isabella’s determina¬ 
tion never wavered. Granada finally surrendered, and the 
silver cross of the crusading army was raised on the towers 
of the Alhambra. Moslem rule in Spain, after an existence 
of almost eight centuries, now came to an end. 

Ferdinand and Isabella belong in the front rank of Euro¬ 
pean sovereigns. They worked with success to build up an 
Rule of absolute monarchy. Spain had found, as had 
Ferdinand England and France, that feudalism spelled 
and Isabella disorder, anc [ that only a strong central gov¬ 
ernment could keep the peace, repress crime, and foster 
industry and commerce. Ferdinand and Isabella firmly es¬ 
tablished the supremacy of the Crown. By the end of the 
fifteenth century Spain had become a leading European 
power. Its importance in the councils of Europe was in¬ 
creased by the marriage of a daughter of Ferdinand and 
Isabella to the heir of the Austrian Hapsburgs. Charles V, 
who was born of this marriage, became Holy Roman Emperor 
and the greatest political figure of his age (§ 212). 

174. Austria and the Swiss Confederation 

The Hapsburgs were originally feudal lords of a small 
district in what is now northern Switzerland, where the 
The ruins of their ancestral castle may still be seen. 

Hapsburgs Count Rudolf was the real maker of the family 
fortunes. After his election as Holy Roman Emperor in 
1273 (§ 146), he acquired the important archduchy of Aus¬ 
tria, with its capital of Vienna. The imperial title after¬ 
ward became confined to the Hapsburg family. This meant 
that the seven German princes, who formed a sort of elec¬ 
toral college for the choice of a king-emperor, always chose 
the archduke of Austria for that glittering, though rather 
empty, honor. 

The name “Austria” is loosely applied to all the territories 
which the Hapsburgs gradually secured by conquest, mar- 


Austria and the Swiss Confederation 


525 


riage, and inheritance. Their dominions came to include, 
not only Austria proper, but also the kingdom of The Haps- 
Bohemia and part of Hungary. Before the close burg realm 
of the Middle Ages they also had possessions in western 
Europe (the Netherlands). 

Swiss history is closely bound up with that of Austria. 
The little mountain communities of Schwyz, Uri, and Unter- 
walden, on the shores of beautiful Lake Lucerne, Switzerland 
were possessions of the counts of Hapsburg. and Austria 
These three “Forest Cantons” formed a confederation for 
resistance to their Hapsburg overlords. Additional cantons 



joined the league, which now entered upon a long struggle, 
dear to all lovers of liberty, against Austrian rule. No¬ 
where did the old methods of feudal warfare break down 
more conspicuously than in the battles gained by Swiss 
pikemen over the haughty knights of Austria. The struggle 
closed at the end of the fifteenth century, when Switzerland 
became practically a free state. 

Switzerland has two heroes of her war for independence. 








526 


Medieval Nations 


William 
Tell and 
Arnold von 
Winkelried 


William Tell is a wholly mythical character, for the story of a 
skillful marksman who succeeds in striking off some small 
object placed on a child’s head is found in several 
European countries. The Swiss have localized 
it in Uri. Another popular hero has a better 
claim to historical existence. It is said that at 
a critical moment in the battle of Sempach, when the Swiss 
with their short weapons failed to break the Austrian ranks, 
Arnold von Winkelried, a man of Unterwalden, came to the 
rescue. Rushing single-handed upon the enemy, he seized 
all the spears within reach and turned them upon his own 
body. He thus opened a gap in the line, through which the 
Swiss pressed on to victory. Winkelried’s deed might well 
have been performed, though the evidence for it is very 
scanty. 

Little Switzerland, lying in the heart of the Alps and sur¬ 
rounded by powerful neighbors, is one of the most interesting 
The Swiss states in Europe. The twenty-two communities, 
confedera- or cantons, which make up the Swiss Confedera¬ 
tion, differ among themselves in language, reli¬ 
gion (Roman Catholic or Protestant), and customs, according 
to their nearness to Germany, France, or Italy. Neverthe¬ 
less, the Swiss form a patriotic and united nation. It is 
remarkable that a people whose chief bond of union was 
common hostility to the Austrian Hapsburgs, should have 
established a federal government so strong and enduring. 


175. Expansion of Germany 

An examination of the map shows how deficient Germany 
is in good natural boundaries. The valley of the Danube 
Lines of affords an easy road to the southeast, a road 

German which the early rulers of Austria followed as far 

expansion as yj enna an( J ^ Hungarian frontier. East¬ 
ward along the Baltic no break occurs in the great plain 
stretching from the North Sea to the Ural Mountains. It 
was in this direction that German conquests and coloniza- 


Expansion of Germany 527 

tion during the Middle Ages laid the foundation of modern 
Prussia. 

The Germans, in descending upon the Roman Empire, had 
abandoned much of their former territory to the Slavs. In 
the reign of Charlemagne nearly all the region Germans and 
between the Elbe and Vistula rivers belonged to Slavs 
Slavic tribes. Several centuries of hard fighting were re¬ 
quired to win this region back for Germany. The Slavs 
were heathen and barbarous, so that warfare with them 
seemed to be a kind of crusade. It was also a business ven¬ 
ture, due to the need for free land. The hope of gain thus 
combined with religious zeal and the spirit of adventure to 
stimulate emigration into the “Great East” of the Middle 
Ages. 

German expansion eastward began early in the tenth cen¬ 
tury, when one of the kings of Germany secured some of the 
district between the Elbe and the Oder. The T he Slavs dis- 
district between the Oder and the Vistula later possessed by 
came under German control. The Slavic inhab- the Germans 
itants were exterminated or reduced to slavery. Their place 
was taken by thousands of German colonists, who introduced 
Christianity, built churches and monasteries, cleared the 
woods, drained the marshes, and founded many cities des¬ 
tined to become centers of German trade and culture. 

Between the Vistula and the Niemen lay the lands of 
the Prussians, a people closely related to the Slavs. The 
conquest and conversion of the Prussians was Prussia and 
accomplished by the military-religious order of the Teutonic 
the Teutonic Knights. It had been founded in Kmghts 
Palestine at the time of the Third Crusade. The decline 
of the crusading movement left the knights with no duties 
to perform, and so they transferred their activities to the 
Prussian frontier, where there was still a chance to engage 
in a holy war. The order flourished throughout the thir¬ 
teenth and fourteenth centuries, until its grand master ruled 
over the entire Baltic coast from the Vistula to the Gulf 
of Finland. The knights later had to give up much of 


528 


Medieval Nations 



Germans 
Slavs 
MTTOB Letts 

Boundary between Germans 
and Slavs, 800 A.D. 


Memel 


>T.horn; 


Berlin- 


Mji^deburi 


iFrahkfori 


Dresden 


'■'■Freiberg/): 


Iracow; 


Blmiitz; 


Vienna^ 


.Salzburg- 


^ Klausenburg^o^ 
a n s 

firjr, 

\ Hermannstadjt/S 


German Expansion Eastward during the Middle Ages 


this region to the Slavs, but they sowed there the seeds of 
civilization. 

Germany at the close of the Middle Ages was not a united, 
intensely national state, such as had been established in 
Political England, France, and Spain. It had split into 
Germany m0 re than three hundred principalities, none 
large, some extremely small, and all practically independent 
of the king-emperors of Germany. This weakness of the 
central power condemned Germany to a minor part in the 






































































529 


Expansion of Germany 

affairs of Europe, as late as the nineteenth century. Ger¬ 
many found some compensation for political backwardness 
in the splendid city life which it developed during the later 
Middle Ages. The German cities, together with those of 
Italy and the Netherlands, now call for our attention. 


Domesday Book 
Henry II 

Plantagenet dynasty 
circuit judges 
Common Law 
Magna Carta 
Witenagemot 
Simon de Montfort 
Model Parliament 
Edward I 


For Explanation 

Bannockburn 

Philip Augustus 

St. Louis 

Philip the Fair 

Estates-General 

Hundred Years’ War 

Edward III 

Crecy 

Agincourt 

War of the Roses 

For Discussion 


Moors 

Castile 

Aragon 

Granada 

the Cid 

Austria 

Hapsburg dynasty 
Swiss Confederation 
Prussians 
Teutonic Knights 


1. Distinguish between a nation, a government, and a state. 

2. Are unity of race, a common language, a common religion, and geo¬ 
graphical unity of themselves sufficient to make a nation? May a 
nation arise where these bonds are lacking? 

3. “The thirteenth century gave Europe the nations as we now know 
them.” Comment on this statement. 

4. Account for the rise of national feeling in France, Spain, Scotland, 
and Switzerland. 

5. “Good government in the Middle Ages was only another name for a 
public-spirited and powerful monarchy.” Comment on this statement. 

6. What advantages had trial by jury over the older forms of trial, such 
as oaths, ordeals, and judicial duels? 

7. Explain the difference between a grand jury and a trial, or petty, jury. 

8. Compare the extent of territory in which Roman law now prevails 
with that which follows the Common Law. 

9. Why is Magna Carta a landmark in the growth of constitutional 
liberty? 

10. Why was the Parliament of 1295 named the “Model Parliament”? 

11. Distinguish between England and Great Britain. Between Great 
Britain and the United Kingdom. 

12. What were the Roman names of England, Scotland, and Ireland? 

13. “Islands seem dedicated by nature to freedom.” How does the 
history of Ireland illustrate this statement? 


530 


Medieval Nations 


14. Show that Paris occupies a good location for a capital city. 

15. What French kings did most in the Middle Ages to form the French 
nation? 

16. Joan of Arc has been called the ‘‘godmother of the French nation.” 
Explain this statement. 

17. “Beyond the Pyrenees begins Africa.” What does this statement 
mean? 

18. Why was Spain inconspicuous in European politics before the opening 
of the sixteenth century? 

19. Why was the German system of elective rulers unfavorable to the 
development of a strong monarchy in Germany? 

For Further Study 

1. Identify these dates and comment on their significance: 987, 1066, 
1215, 1295, 1346, 1453, and 1485. 

2. Prepare a chart showing the leading rulers mentioned in this chapter. 
Arrange your material in parallel columns with dates, one column for 
England, one for France, and one for the other European countries. 

3. Dramatize the scene of the granting of Magna Carta by King John. 

4. Read Burns’s poem, “Scots Wha Hae Wi’ Wallace Bled.” Is it 
historical? 

5. Write an essay (400 words) on Joan of Arc. 

6. Look up in an encyclopedia the story of William Tell and prepare an 
oral report upon it. 


Supplementary 

Webster, Readings in Early European History, chapter xxxvii, “St. Louis”; 
chapter xxxviii, “Episodes of the Hundred Years’ War”; chapter xxxix, 
“Memoirs of a French Courtier.” 

Webster and Webb, Historical Outline Maps and Exercises: Early European 
History, No. XIX, Unification of the British Isles. 


CHAPTER XXIII 


MEDIEVAL CITIES 

The rise of the urban civilization, first primarily commercial and later 
more and more industrial, was the outstanding social force in the later 
Middle Ages; from it can be traced practically everything that, beginning 
with the renaissance of the twelfth century, created modern times. 

— J. H. Randall, Jr. 

176. Growth of the Cities 

Nothing marks more strongly the backwardness of the 
early Middle Ages than the absence of city life throughout 
western Europe. The great economic feature of The civic 
the later Middle Ages was the civic revival. De- revival 
veloping trade, commerce, and manufactures led to the in¬ 
crease of wealth, the growth of markets, and the substitution 
of money payments for those in produce or services. Flour¬ 
ishing cities arose, as in the days of the Roman Empire 
(§ 89), freed themselves from the control of the nobles, 
and became homes of liberty and democracy. 

A number of medieval cities stood on the sites, and even 
within the walls, of Roman municipalities. Particularly in 
Italy, southern France, and Spain, and also in the cities of 
Rhine and Danube regions, it seems that some Roman on s in 
ancient cities had never been entirely destroyed during the 
barbarian invasions. They preserved their Roman names, 
their streets, aqueducts, amphitheaters, and churches, and 
possibly vestiges of their Roman institutions. Among them 
were such important centers as Milan, Florence, Lyons, 
Marseilles, Paris, Vienna, Cologne, London, and York. 

Many medieval cities were new foundations.. Some began 
as small communities, which increased in size because of 
exceptional advantages of situation. A place where a river 

531 


532 


Medieval Cities 


could be forded, where two roads met, or where a good har¬ 
bor existed, would naturally become the resort of traders. 
Origin of Some, again, started as fortresses, behind whose 
other cities ramparts the peasants took refuge when danger 
threatened. A third group of cities developed from villages 
on the manors. A thriving settlement often sprang up near 



A Medieval Walled Town (Leicester) in Relation to Its Fields 


a monastery or a castle, which offered both protection and 
employment to the common people. 

The city at first formed part of the feudal system. It 
arose upon the territory of a feudal lord and owed obedience 
to him. The citizens ranked not much higher than serfs. 







restored in the nineteenth century. 


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534 


Medieval Cities 


though they were traders and artisans instead of farmers. 
They enjoyed no political rights, for their lord collected the 
The city and taxes, appointed officials, kept order, and pun- 
feudaiism ished offenders. In short, the city was not free. 
As its inhabitants became more numerous and wealthy, 
they refused to submit to oppression. Sometimes they won 
their freedom by hard fighting; more often they purchased 
it, perhaps from some noble who needed money to go on a 
crusade. In France, England, and Spain, where the royal 
power was strong, the cities obtained relief from their feudal 
burdens, but did not become entirely self-governing. In 
Germany and Italy, on the other hand, the weakness of the 
central government permitted many cities to secure complete 
independence. They became true republics, like the old 
Greek city-states. 

The contract which the citizens extorted from their lord 
was known as a charter. It specified what taxes they should 
charters be required to pay and usually granted to them 
( 336 ) various privileges, such as those of holding as¬ 

semblies, electing magistrates, and raising militia for local 
defense. 

The free city had no room for either slaves or serfs. All 
servile conditions ceased inside its walls. The rule prevailed 

Civic freedom that an y one w ^° hved i n a city for the term 
of a year and a day could no longer be claimed by 
a lord as his serf. This rule found expression in the famous 
saying: “Town air renders free.’’ 

The freedom of the cities naturally attracted many immi¬ 
grants to them. There came into existence a middle class of 
Rise of the city people — merchants, artisans, and profes- 
middie class s i 0 nal men. It was midway between the clergy 
and nobles on the one side and peasants on the other. The 
kings of England and France soon began to summon represent¬ 
atives of this middle class to sit in assemblies (parliaments), 
as the Third Estate, along with the nobles and clergy, who 
formed the first two “estates” of the realm. The middle 
class, distinguished as it was for wealth, intelligence, and 


enterprise, henceforth exerted an ever greater influence on 
European affairs. 


177. City Life 

The visitor approaching a medieval city through miles of 
open fields saw it clear in the sunlight, unobscured by coal 
smoke. It looked like a fortress from without, A city from 
with walls, towers, gateways, drawbridges, and without 
moat. Beyond the fortifications he would see, huddled to¬ 
gether against the sky, the spires of the churches and the 
cathedral, the roofs of the larger houses, and the dark, frown¬ 
ing mass of the castle. The general impression was one of 
strength and wealth and beauty. 1 

The visitor would not find things so attractive within the 
walls. The streets were narrow, crooked, and ill-paved, 
dark during the day because of the overhanging a city from 
houses, and without illumination at night. There within 
were no open spaces or parks except a small market place. 
The whole city was cramped by its walls, which shut out 
light, air, and view, and prevented expansion into the neigh¬ 
boring country. Medieval London, for instance, covered an 
area of less than one square mile. 

A city in the Middle Ages lacked all sanitary arrangements. 
The only water supply came from polluted streams and wells. 
Sewers and sidewalks were quite unknown. Peo- unsanitary 
pie piled up their refuse in the backyard or flung conditions 
it into the street, to be devoured by the dogs and pigs that 
served as scavengers. The holes in the pavement collected 
all manner of filth, and the unpaved lanes, in wet weather, 
became deep pits of mud. We can understand why the 
townspeople wore overshoes when they went out, and why 
even the saints in the pictures were represented wearing 
them. The living were crowded together in many-storied 
houses, airless and gloomy; the dead were buried close at 
hand in crowded churchyards. Such unsanitary conditions 
must have been responsible for much of the sickness that 
1 See the frontispiece. 


536 


Medieval Cities 


was prevalent. The high death rate could only be offset by 
a birth rate correspondingly high, and by the constant influx 
of country people. 

Numerous petty regulations restricted the private life of 
the townspeople. The civic authorities sometimes decided 
Civic reguia- how many guests might be invited to weddings, 
tions (335) how much might be spent on wedding presents, 
what different garments might be owned and worn by a 
citizen, and even the number of trees that might be planted 

in his garden. Each 
citizen had to serve his 
turn as watchman on 
the walls or in the 
streets at night. When 
the great bell in the 
belfry rang the “cur¬ 
few,” at eight or nine 
o’clock, this was the 
signal for every one to 
extinguish lights and 
fires and go to bed. 
It was a useful pre¬ 
caution, since confla¬ 
grations were common 
enough in the densely 
packed wooden houses. 
The municipal govern¬ 
ment spent little or nothing on police protection, so that 
street brawls, and even robbery and murder, were not infre¬ 
quent. 

The inhabitants of the city took a just pride in their public 
buildings. The market place, where traders assembled, often 
Public contained a beautiful cross and sometimes a mar- 
buiidmgs ket hall to shelter goods from the weather. Not 
far away rose the city hall, for the transaction of public 
business and the holding of civic feasts. The hall might be 
crowned by a high belfry with an alarm bell to summon 



A London Bellman 

Title-page of a tract published in 1616. It was 
part of the duties of a bellman, or night-watchman, 
to call out the hours, the state of the weather, and 
other information as he passed by. 



































537 


Civic Industry: the Guilds 

citizens to mass meetings. There were also handsome 
churches and abbeys and, if the city was the capital of a 
bishop’s diocese, an imposing cathedral. 

The small size of medieval cities — few included as many 
as ten thousand inhabitants — simplified the problem of 
governing them. The leading merchants usually Municipal 
formed a council presided over by a head magis- government 
trate, the burgomaster or mayor, who was assisted by aider- 
men. In some places the guilds chose the officials and 
managed civic affairs. These associations had many func¬ 
tions and held a most important place in city life. 

178. Civic Industry: the Guilds 

The Anglo-Saxon word “guild” meant a club or society 
whose members made contributions for some common pur¬ 
pose. This form of association is very old. Some Formation 
of the guilds in imperial Rome (§ 90) had been of guilds 
established in the age of the kings, while not a few of those 
which flourish to-day in China and India were founded be¬ 
fore the Christian era. Guilds existed in Continental Europe 
as early as the time of Charlemagne, but they did not be¬ 
come prominent until after the Crusades. 

A guild of merchants grew up when those who bought and 
sold goods in any place united to protect their own interests. 
The membership included many artisans, as well Merchant 
as professional traders, for in medieval times a guilds (338) 
man often sold in the front room of his shop the goods which 
he and his assistants made in the back rooms. He was often 
both shopkeeper and workman in one. 

The chief duty of a merchant guild was to preserve to its 
own members the monopoly of trade within a town. Stran¬ 
gers and non-guildsmen could not buy or sell there commercial 
except under the conditions imposed by the guild, monopoly 
They must pay the town tolls, confine their dealings to guilds- 
men, and as a rule sell only at wholesale. They were for¬ 
bidden to purchase wares which the townspeople wanted for 


538 


Medieval Cities 


themselves or to set up shops for retail trade. They enjoyed 
more freedom at fairs, which were intended to attract out¬ 
siders. 

The artisans who were engaged in particular occupations 
also formed associations of their own. These were the 
Craft guilds craft guilds, composed of weavers, shoemakers, 
(339-340) brewers, bakers, tailors, carpenters, blacksmiths, 
tanners, and other workmen. The names of the various 



occupations came to be used as the surnames of those en¬ 
gaged in them, so that to-day we have such common family 
names as Smith, Cooper, Fuller, Potter, and Chandler. The 











539 


Civic Industry: the Guilds 

number of craft guilds in an important city might be very 
large. London and Paris at one time each had more than 
one hundred, and Cologne in Germany had as many as 
eighty. The members of a particular guild usually lived 
in the same street or quarter of the city, not only for com¬ 
panionship, but also for better supervision of their labor. 

Just as the merchant guild regulated town trade, so the 
craft guilds had charge of town industry. No one could 
engage in any craft without be¬ 
coming a member of the guild 
which controlled it Industrial 
and submitting to monopoly 
the guild regula- (341) 
tions. A man’s hours of labor 
and the prices at which he sold 
his goods were fixed for him 
by the guild. He might not 
work elsewhere than in his shop, 
because of the difficulty of 
supervising him, nor might he 
work by artificial light, lest he 
turn out badly finished goods. 

Everything made by him was 
carefully inspected to see if it 
contained shoddy materials or 
showed poor workmanship. 

Failure to meet the test meant 
a heavy fine or perhaps expul¬ 
sion from the guild. The 
industrial monopoly possessed 
by the craft guild thus gave 
some measure of protection to both producer and consumer. 

Full membership in a guild was reached only by degrees. 
A boy started as an apprentice, that is, a learner. He paid a 
sum of money to his master and agreed to serve organization 
him for a fixed period, usually seven years. The of craft gullds 
master, in turn, promised to provide the apprentice with food, 



House of the Butchers’ Guild, 
Hildesheim, Germany 


Hildesheim, near Hanover, is perhaps 
the richest of all German towns in fine 
wooden-framed houses. The house of the 
Butchers' Guild has been recently re¬ 
stored, with all its original coloring care¬ 
fully reproduced. 













540 


Medieval Cities 


lodging, and clothing, and to teach him all the secrets of the 
craft. The apprentice had to pass an examination by the 
guild at the end of his term of service. If he was found fit, 
he then became a journeyman and worked for daily wages. 
As soon as he had saved enough money, he might set up as a 
master in his own shop. A master was at once workman and 
employer, laborer and capitalist. 

The guilds had their charitable and religious aspects. Each 
one raised large benefit funds for the relief of members or 
Activities of their widows and orphans. Each one had its 
craft guilds private altar in the cathedral, or often its own 
chapel, where masses were said for the repose of the souls 
of deceased members, and where on the day of its patron saint 
religious services were held. The guild was also a social 
organization, with frequent meetings for a feast in its hall or 
in an inn. The guilds in some cities entertained the people 
with an annual play or procession. It is clear that the mem¬ 
bers of a medieval craft guild had common interests and 
shared a common life. 

179. Civic Trade and Commerce 

Nearly every town of any consequence had a weekly or 
semi-weekly market, which was held in the market place or in 
Markets the churchyard. Outsiders who brought cattle 
and farm produce for sale in the market were 
required to pay tolls, either to the town authorities or some¬ 
times to a neighboring nobleman. These market dues sur¬ 
vive in the octroi collected at the gates of many European 
cities. 

People in the Middle Ages did not believe in unrestricted 
competition. It was thought wrong for any one to purchase 
“Justprice” § oods outside of the regular market (“forestall¬ 
ing”) or to purchase them in larger quantities 
than necessary (“engrossing”). A man ought not to charge 
for a thing more than it was worth, or to buy a thing cheap 
and sell it dear. The idea prevailed that goods should be sold 


Civic Trade and Commerce 


541 


at their “just price,” which was not determined by supply and 
demand but by an estimate of the cost of the materials and 
the labor that went into their manufacture. Laws were often 
passed fixing this “just price,” but it was as difficult then as 
now to prevent the “cornering of the market” by shrewd 
and unscrupulous traders. 

Many towns also held fairs once or twice a year. The 
fairs often lasted for a month or more. They were especially 



European Fairs in the Middle Ages 


necessary in medieval Europe, because merchants did not 
keep large quantities or many kinds of goods on their 
shelves, nor could intending purchasers afford Fairg 
to travel far in search of what they wanted. 

A fair at an English town, such as Stourbridge, Winchester, 
or St. Ives, might attract Venetians and Genoese with silk, 
pepper, and spices of the East, Flemings with fine cloths and 







542 


Medieval Cities 


Decline of 
commerce 
in the 


linens, Spaniards with iron and wine, Norwegians with tar 
and pitch from their forests, and Baltic merchants with furs, 
amber, and salted fish. The fairs, by fostering commerce, 
helped to make the various European peoples better ac¬ 
quainted with one another. 

Commerce in western Europe had almost disappeared as a 
result of the barbarian invasions and the establishment of 
feudalism. Even the little commercial inter¬ 
course that survived met many obstacles. A 
. merchant who went by land from country to 
country might expect to find bad roads, few 
bridges, and poor inns. Goods were transported on pack- 
horses instead of in wagons. Highway robbery was so com¬ 
mon that travelers always carried arms and united in bands 
for better protection. The feudal lords, themselves often 
not much more than highwaymen, demanded tolls at every 
bridge and ford and on every road. If the merchant pro¬ 
ceeded by water, he must face, in addition to the ordinary 
hazards of wind and wave, the danger from the ill-lighted 
coasts and from attacks by pirates. No wonder commerce 
languished in the early Middle Ages and for a long time 
lay chiefly in the hands of Arabs and Byzantines (§§ 152, 
161). 


Even during the dark centuries that followed the break-up 
of the Roman Empire, some trade with the Orient had been 
Commercial carried on by the cities of Italy and southern 
revival after France. The Crusades, which brought East and 
the crusades ^ est f ace f ace> greatly increased this trade 
(§ 159). The Mediterranean lands first felt the stimulating 
effects of intercourse with the Orient, but before long the 
commercial revival extended to the rest of Europe. 

Before the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope (§ 200) 
the spices, drugs, incense, carpets, tapestries, porcelains, 
Asiatic trade and gems of India, China, and the East Indies 
routes reached the West by three main routes. 1 All had 

been used in ancient times. The central and most important 
1 See the map, page 493. 


Civic Trade and Commerce 


543 


route led up the Persian Gulf and Tigris River to Bagdad, 
from which city goods went by caravan to Antioch or Da¬ 
mascus. The southern route reached Cairo and Alexandria 
by way of the Red Sea and the Nile. By taking advantage 
of the monsoons (§ 54), a merchant ship could make the 
voyage from India to Egypt in about three months. The 
northern route, entirely overland, led to ports on the Black 
Sea and thence to Constantinople. It traversed high moun¬ 
tain passes and long 
stretches of desert, and 
hence was profitably 
used only for the trans¬ 
port of valuable articles 
small in bulk. The con¬ 
quests of the Ottoman 
Turks (§ 164) greatly 
interfered with the use 
of this route by Chris¬ 
tians after the middle 
of the fifteenth century. 

Oriental goods, upon 
reaching the Mediter¬ 
ranean, could be trans- 
ported by water to 
northern Europe. 

Every year the Vene¬ 
tians sent a fleet loaded 
with eastern products to 
Bruges in Flanders, a city which was the most important 
depot of trade with Germany, England, and Scandinavia. 
Bruges also formed the terminus of the main European 
overland route leading from Venice over the trade routes 
Alps and down the Rhine. Many other commercial high¬ 
ways also linked the Mediterranean with the North Sea and 
the Baltic. The most important ones are traced on the ac¬ 
companying map. 1 

i See the map, page 545. 



A Fair in the Fifteenth Century 

After a miniature representing the blessing of a fair. 



















544 


Medieval Cities 


180. Money and Banking 

One hindrance to business enterprise in medieval times 
was the inadequate supply of money. From the beginning 
Lack of of the Christian era to the twelfth century there 
money seems to have been a steady decrease in the 

amount of money in circulation, partly because so much 
moved to the Orient in payment for luxuries, and partly 



Prospecting and Digging for Minerals 

From Agricola’s De re metallica 

The divining rod, shown in the illustration, was often used in attempts to 
locate metallic ores, as well as hidden springs of water. 

because the few mines in western Europe went out of use 
during the period of the invasions. The scarcity of money 
helped directly to build up the feudal system, since salaries, 
wages, and rents could be paid only in personal services or in 
produce. The money supply increased during the latter 













Money and Banking 


545 



Trade Routes between Northern and Southern Europe 
in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries 


part of the Middle Ages, but it did not become sufficient for 
the needs of business until the discovery of the New World 
enabled the Spaniards to tap the wealth of the silver mines 
in Mexico and Peru (§ 204). 

The prejudice against “usury,” as any lending of money at 
interest was called, formed another hindrance to business 


























546 


Medieval Cities 


enterprise. It seemed wrong for a person to receive interest, 
since he lost nothing by the loan of his money. Numerous 
“ Usury ” Church laws condemned the receipt of interest as 
laws ( 347 ) unchristian. If, however, the lender could show 
that he had suffered any loss, or had been prevented from 
making any gain, through not having his money, he might 
charge something for its use. People in time began to dis¬ 
tinguish between interest moderate in amount and an ex¬ 
cessive charge for the use of money. The latter alone was 
henceforth prohibited as usurious. Many modern countries 
still have usury laws which fix the legal rate of interest. 

The business of money lending, denied to Christians, fell 
into the hands of the Jews. Popular prejudice made it 
The jews difficult for them to engage in agriculture, while 
as money the guild regulations barred them from industry. 

They turned to trade and finance for a livelihood 
and became the chief capitalists of medieval times. The 
laws gave the Jews little or no protection, and kings and 
nobles constantly extorted large sums from them. The 
persecutions of the Jews date from the era of the Crusades, 
when it was as easy to excite fanatical hatred against them 
as against the Moslems. Edward I drove the Jews from 
England, and Ferdinand and Isabella expelled them from 
Spain. 

The Jews were least persecuted in the commercial cities 
of northern Italy. Florence, Genoa, and Venice in the 
Italian thirteenth century were the money centers of 
banking Europe. The banking companies in these cities 
received deposits and then loaned the money to foreign 
governments and great nobles. It was the Florentine bank¬ 
ers, for instance, who provided the English king, Edward III, 
with the funds to carry on his wars against France (§ 172). 
The Italian banking houses had branches in the principal 
cities of Europe. It became possible, therefore, to introduce 
the use of bills of exchange as a means of balancing debts 
between countries, without the necessity of sending the 
actual money. This system of international credit was 


Italian Cities 


547 


doubly important at a time when so many risks attended the 
transportation of the precious metals. Another Florentine 
device was bookkeeping by double-entry. 

181. Italian Cities 

The cities of northern Italy owed their prosperity to the 
commerce with the Orient. It was this which gave them the 
means and the strength to keep up a long strug- The city 
gle for freedom against the Holy Roman emper- re P ublics 
ors. The end of the struggle, at the middle of the thirteenth 
century, saw all North Italy divided into the dominions of 
various independent cities. Among them were Milan, Pisa, 
Florence, Genoa, and Venice. 

Milan, a city of Roman origin, lay in the fertile valley of 
the Po, at a point where the trade routes through several 
Alpine passes converged. The city early became MUan 
important, and it still remains the commercial 
metropolis of Italy. Manufacturing also flourished there, and 
the armor of Milan was once celebrated throughout Europe. 
The Milanese were able to throw off the imperial authority, 
but their government fell into the hands of the local nobles, 
who ruled as despots. Almost all the Italian cities, except 
Venice, lost their freedom in this manner. 

Pisa was also an old Roman city which profited by the 
disorders of the barbarian invasions to assert its independ¬ 
ence. The situation of Pisa on the Arno River, p . sa 
seven miles from the sea, made it a maritime 
power, and the Pisan navy gained distinction in warfare 
against the Moslems in the Mediterranean. The Pisans 
joined in the First Crusade and showed their valor at the 
capture of Jerusalem. They profited greatly by the crusad¬ 
ing movement and soon possessed banks, warehouses, and 
trading privileges in every eastern port. Pisa had bitter 
rivals in Florence and Genoa, and the conflicts with these 
two cities finally brought about the downfall of its power. 

Florence, Pisa’s neighbor on the Arno, was renowned for 


548 


Medieval Cities 



manufactures. The fine wool, silk cloths, golden brocades, 
jewelry, and metal work of Florence were imported into 
all European countries. The craft guilds were 
very strong there, and even the neighboring 
nobles, who wished to become citizens, had first to enroll 
themselves in some guild. Banking was especially developed 
in Florence, where at one time there were no less than eighty 


Cathedral and Campanile of Florence 

The cathedral (Duomo) of Florence, though begun in 1298, was not completed until 
the fifteenth century, when the famous architect Brunelleschi added the huge dome, 300 
feet high. Close by the Duomo is the campanile, or bell tower, adorned with bas-reliefs 
and colored marbles. 

great banks, with numerous branches outside of Italy. The 
Florentines combined with their commercial spirit a remark¬ 
able taste for art and literature. Their city, whose popula¬ 
tion never exceeded seventy thousand, gave birth to some 
of the most illustrious poets, prose writers, architects, sculp¬ 
tors, and painters of medieval and early modern times (§ 193 ). 
It was the Athens of Italy. 

Genoa, located on the gulf of the same name, possesses a 







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Italian Cities 


549 


safe and spacious harbor. During the era of the Crusades 
the city enjoyed a larger trade on both the Mediterranean 
and the Atlantic. After the fall of the Latin _ 

Genoa 

Empire of Constantinople (§ 158) the Genoese 
almost monopolized Oriental commerce along the Black Sea 
route. The closing of this route by the Ottoman Turks was 
a heavy blow to their prosperity, which also suffered from 
the active competition of Venice. 

Venice, almost alone among Italian cities, was not of 
Roman origin. Its beginning is traced back to the period of 
barbarian inroads, when fugitives from the main- situation of 
land sought a new home on the islands at the Venice 
head of the Adriatic. These islands, which lie about five 
miles from the coast, are protected from the outer sea by a 
long sand bar. They are little more than mud-banks, barely 
rising above the shallow water of the lagoons. The oozy 
soil afforded no support for buildings, except when strength¬ 
ened by piles; there was scarcely any land fit for farming or 
cattle-raising; and the only drinking water had to be stored 
from the rainfall. Yet on this unpromising site arose one 
of the most splendid of European cities. 

The early inhabitants of Venice got their living from the 
sale of sea salt and fish, two commodities for which a constant 
demand existed in the Middle Ages. Large quan- Venetian 
tities of salt were needed for preserving meat in commerce 
the winter months, while fish was eaten by all Christians on 
the numerous fast days and in Lent. The Venetians ex¬ 
changed these commodities for the productions of the main¬ 
land and so built up a thriving trade. The Crusades greatly 
increased the wealth of Venice, for she provided the ships 
in which troops and supplies went to the Holy Land and she 
secured the largest share of the new eastern trade. Venice 
thus became the emporium of the Mediterranean. 

Venice used the crusading movement for her political 
advantage. The capture of Constantinople in Venetian 
the Fourth Crusade (§ 158) extended her control possessions 
over southern Greece, Crete, Rhodes, Cyprus, and many 


550 


Medieval Cities 


smaller islands in the eastern Mediterranean. She also 
had possessions upon the Italian mainland and along the 
Adriatic coast. 1 

The imperial power of Venice was celebrated by the an¬ 
nual ceremony of the “wedding of the sea.” The doge 
The “ Queen (duke), or chief magistrate, standing in the bow 
of the of the State barge, cast a ring of gold into the 

Adriatic ” Adriatic with the proud words, ‘ ‘ We have wedded 
thee, O sea, in token of our rightful and perpetual do¬ 
minion.” 

The visitor to modem Venice can still gain a good im¬ 
pression of what the city must have looked like during 
Venice the later Middle Ages, when ships of every nation 
described crowded its quays and strangers of every country 
thronged its squares or sped in light gondolas over the canals 
which take the place of streets. The main highway is the 
Grand Canal, nearly two miles long and lined with palaces 
and churches. The Grand Canal leads to St. Mark’s Ca¬ 
thedral, brilliant with mosaic pictures, the Campanile, or 
bell tower, and the Doge’s Palace. The “Bridge of Sighs” 
connects the ducal palace with the State prisons. The Rialto 
in the business heart of Venice is another famous bridge. 
These are only a few of the historic and beautiful buildings 
of the island city. 

“Once did she hold the gorgeous East in fee 
And was the safeguard of the West; the worth 
Of Venice did not fall below her birth, 

Venice, the eldest child of liberty/’ 


182. German Cities: the Hanseatic League 

The important trade routes from Venice and Genoa 
through the Alpine passes into the valleys of the Rhine 
and Danube were responsible for the prosperity of many 
fine cities in southern and central Germany. Among them 
1 See the map, page 497. 


German Cities: the Hanseatic League 551 

were Augsburg, which rivaled Florence as a financial cen¬ 
ter, Nuremberg, famous for artistic metal work, Ulm, Stras¬ 
bourg, and Cologne. The feeble rule of the Ger- Cities ^ 
man kings compelled the cities to form several southern and 
confederacies for the purpose of resisting the ^ r tra ^ n 
extortionate tolls and downright robberies of ermany 
the feudal lords who were so numerous in Germany. 

It was the Baltic commerce which brought the cities of 
northern Germany into a firm union. The Baltic region 
provided large quantities of dried and salted fish, Cities of 
especially herring, wax candles .for church serv- northern 
ices, skins, tallow, and lumber. Furs were also in Germany 
great demand. Every one wore them indoors during the win¬ 
ter because of the poorly heated houses. The German 
cities which shared in this commerce early formed a league 
{hanso) for protection against pirates and feudal lords. 

The Hanseatic League seems to have begun with an 
alliance of Hamburg and Liibeck to safeguard the traffic 
on the Elbe. The growth of the league was Hanseatic 
rapid. At the period of its greatest power, there League 
were upwards of eighty Hanseatic cities along the Baltic 
coast and in the inland districts of northern Germany. 1 

The commercial importance of the league extended far 
beyond the borders of Germany. Its trading posts, or 
“ factories,” at Bergen in Norway and Novgorod Hanseatic 
in Russia controlled the export trade of those “factories” 
two countries. Similar establishments existed at London, on 
the Thames just above London Bridge, and at Bruges in 
Flanders. Each factory served as a fortress where merchants 
could be safe from attack, as a storehouse for goods, and as a 
general market. 

The Hanseatic League ruled over the Baltic Sea very much 
as Venice ruled over the Adriatic. In spite of its Influe nce of 
monopolistic tendencies, so opposed to the spirit the Hanseatic 
of free intercourse between nations, the league League 
did much useful work by suppressing piracy and by en- 
1 See the map, page 545. 


552 


Medieval Cities 


couraging the art of navigation. The Hanseatic merchants 
were also pioneers in the half-barbarous lands of northern 
and eastern Europe, where they founded towns, fostered 
industry, and introduced comforts and luxuries previously 
unknown. 

The league finally lost its monopoly of the Baltic trade. 
Moreover, the Baltic, like the Mediterranean, sank to minor 
Decline of the importance as a commercial center, after the 
Hanseatic Portuguese had discovered the sea route to India 
League an d Spaniards had opened up the New 
World. City after city gradually withdrew from the league, 
till only Hamburg, Liibeck, and Bremen remained. They 
are still called free and independent cities, though they are 
now included in the German Republic. 

183. The Cities of Flanders 

The Netherlands, or “Low Countries,” now divided be¬ 
tween Holland and Belgium, consisted in the Middle Ages of 
county of a number of feudal states. These were nominally 
Flanders under the control of German and French kings, 
but were really quite independent. Among them was the 
county of Flanders. It included the coast region from Calais 
to the mouth of the Scheldt, as well as a considerable 
district in what is now northwestern France. The inhabit¬ 
ants of Flanders were partly of Germanic extraction (the 
Flemings) and partly akin to the French (the Walloons). 

Flanders enjoyed a good situation for commerce. It formed 
a convenient stopping place for merchants who went by sea 
Flanders as a between the Mediterranean and the Baltic, while 
commercial important land routes led thither from all parts of 
center dUStrial western Europe. Flanders was also an industrial 
center. Its middle classes early discovered the 
fact that by devotion to manufacturing even a small and 
sterile region may become rich and populous. 

The leading industry of Flanders was weaving. England 
in the Middle Ages raised great flocks of sheep, but lacked 


The Cities of Flanders 


553 


skilled workmen to manufacture the wool into fine cloth. 
She exported it, therefore, to Flanders. A medieval writer 
declared that the whole world was clothed in Eng- Flemish 
lish wool manufactured by the Flemings. The w ° o1 trade 
taxes that were laid on the export of wool helped to pay the 
expenses of English kings in their wars with the Welsh, the 
Scotch, and the Irish. 

The wool trade also 
made Flanders the 
ally of England in the 
Hundred Years’ War 
(§ 172 ). 

Three Flemish cities 
were especially impor¬ 
tant. Bruges was the 
mart where BnlgeS; 
the trade Ghent, and 
of southern Ypres 
Europe, in the hands 
of the Venetians, and 
the trade of northern 
Europe, in the hands 
of Hanseatic mer¬ 
chants, came together. 

Ghent and Ypres were 
scarcely less prosper¬ 
ous. When these cities 
declined in wealth, 

Antwerp became the 
commercial metropolis 
of the Netherlands. 

The great cities of 
Flanders, Germany, and Italy, 



Belfry of Bruges 

Bruges, the capital of West Flanders, contains 
many fine monuments of the Middle Ages. Among 
these is the belfry, which rises in the center of the 
facade of the market hall. It dates from the end of 
the thirteenth century. Its height is 352 feet. The 
belfry consists of three stories, the two lower ones 
square, and the upper one, octagonal. 

not to speak of those in 
France, Spain, and England, were much more The cities 
than centers of trade, industry, and finance. a “ d ization 
Learning and art also flourished within their 
walls to an extent which had never been possible in earlier 








554 


Medieval Cities 


times, when rural life prevailed throughout western Europe. 
We shall now see what the cities of the later Middle Ages 
contributed to civilization. 


For Explanation 

octroi 

just price 

usury 

Milan 

Pisa 

Genoa 

Augsburg 

Nuremberg 


Hanseatic League 

Low Countries 

Flanders 

Flemings 

Walloons 

Bruges 

Ghent 

Ypres 


civic charter 
Third Estate 
curfew 

merchant guild 
craft guild 
apprentice 
journeyman 
master 


For Discussion 


1. Why does an American city have a charter? Where is it obtained? 
What privileges does it confer? 

2. Who comprised the Third Estate in the Middle Ages? What class 
corresponds to it at the present time? 

3. Why has the medieval city been called the “birthplace of modem 
democracy ”? 

4. Compare the merchant guild with the modern chamber of commerce, 
and craft guilds with modern trade unions. 

5. Why was there no antagonism between labor and capital under the 
guild system? 

6. Compare the medieval abhorrence of “engrossing” with the modern 
idea that “combinations in restraint of trade” are wrong. 

7. Why were fairs a necessity in the Middle Ages? Why are they not so 
useful now? 

S. Compare a medieval fair with a modern exposition. 

9. What would be the effect on trade within an American state if tolls 
were levied on the border of every county? 

10. What is meant by a “robber baron”? 

11. How did the names chinaware, japanned ware, and cashmere shawls 
originate? 

12. Why was the purchasing power of money much greater in the Middle 
Ages than it is now? 

13. How is it easy to evade laws forbidding usury? Does your state have 
a usury law? 

14. Show that Venice in medieval times was the seaport nearest the heart 
of commercial Europe. 


The Cities of Flanders 555 

15. Compare the Venetian and Athenian sea-empires in respect to 
(a) extent, ( b ) duration, and (c) commercial policy. 

16. Why was Venice called the “bride of the sea”? 

17. “ In the history of Europe, Venice ranks in importance with Paris and 
London.” Explain this statement. 

For Further Study 

1. Make a list of ten English surnames which are derived from the 
names of various occupations. 

2. Trace the principal land and water routes between Europe and Asia 
during the Middle Ages (map, page 493). 

3. Locate the Italian, German, and Flemish cities mentioned in this 
chapter (map, page 545). 

4. Give the derivation and present meaning of the English words mayor, 
alderman, guild, apprentice, and usury. 

5. Look up in an encyclopedia the legend of the “Wandering Jew.” How 
does it illustrate the medieval attitude toward Jews? 

6. Prepare an oral report on modern Venice. If possible, show pictures 
of the more notable buildings there. 



Jacob Fugger 


After a wood engraving. This 
merchant prince, a contemporary 
of Columbus, lived at Augsburg 
in Germany, where he amassed an 
enormous fortune, 






























CHAPTER XXIV 


LIFE AND THOUGHT DURING THE 
MIDDLE AGES 

The highest medieval achievements are the fruit of deep reflection, of 
persevering and concentrated effort, of a self forgetting self in the service 
of humanity and God. In other words, they spring from the soil, and have 
ripened in the atmosphere, of a civilized society. 

— H. W. C. Davis 


184. National Languages 

Latin continued to be an international language through¬ 
out the Middle Ages. The Roman Church used it for 
all official documents. Prayers were recited, Lat i n asan 
hymns were sung, and sometimes sermons were international 
preached in Latin. It was also the language of la guag 
men of culture everywhere in western Christendom. Uni¬ 
versity professors lectured in Latin, students spoke Latin, 
lawyers addressed judges in Latin, and the merchants in dif¬ 
ferent countries wrote Latin letters to one another. All 
learned books were composed in Latin until the close of the 
sixteenth century. This practice has not yet been entirely 
abandoned by scholars. 

Each European country during the Middle Ages had also 
its own national tongue. The so-called Romance languages 
(§ 88), including modem French, Italian, Span- Romance 
ish, Portuguese, and Rumanian, were derived languages 
from the Latin spoken by the Romanized inhabitants of the 
lands now known as France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and 
Rumania. Their colloquial Latin naturally lacked the ele¬ 
gance of the literary Latin used by Caesar, Cicero, and other 
ancient authors. The difference between the written and 
spoken forms of the language became still more marked from 


558 Life and Thought during the Middle Ages 

the fifth century onward, in consequence of the barbarian 
invasions. The result was the formation of new languages, 
related to, yet different from, the old classical Latin in pro¬ 
nunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. 

The French language originated from the popular Latin 
of the Gallo-Romans in the north of France, particularly 
„ in the region about Paris. The unification of the 

French _ . __ , ^ ... 

French kingdom under Hugh Capet and his suc¬ 
cessors gradually extended the speech of northern France 
over the entire country. Modern French contains scarcely a 
thousand words introduced by the Germanic invaders of 
Gaul, while the words of Celtic origin are even fewer in 
number. The language, therefore, is almost entirely of 
Latin derivation. 

The Germanic peoples who remained outside what had 
been the limits of the Roman world continued to use their 
Teutonic native tongues during the Middle Ages. Thus 
languages arose modern German, Dutch, Flemish, and 
the various Scandinavian languages (Danish, Norwegian, 
Swedish, and Icelandic). All these languages in their earliest 
known forms show unmistakable traces of a common origin. 

Britain was the only Roman province in the west of Europe 
where a Teutonic language took root and maintained itself. 
Anglo Saxon ^ ere the rou gh, guttural speech of the Anglo- 

Saxons completely drove out the popular Latin. 
Anglo-Saxon, in course of time, underwent various changes. 
Christian missionaries introduced many new Latin terms for 
church offices, services, and observances. The Danes, be¬ 
sides contributing some place-names, gave us that most 
useful word are , and also the habit of using to before an 
infinitive. The coming of the Normans deeply affected 
Anglo-Saxon. Norman-French influence helped to make the 
language simpler by ridding it of the cumbersome declen¬ 
sions and conjugations which it had in common with all 
Teutonic tongues. Many new Norman-French words also 
crept in when the hostility of the English people toward 
their conquerors disappeared. 


National Literatures 


559 


Anglo-Saxon, by the middle of the thirteenth century, had 
so far developed that it might then be called English. In the 
poems of Geoffrey Chaucer (about 1340-1400), EngHsh 
especially in his Canterbury Tales, English wears 
quite a modern aspect, though the reader is often troubled by 
the old spelling and by certain words not now in use. The 
changes in the grammar of English have been so few since 
the end of the fifteenth century that any Englishman of 
ordinary education can read without much difficulty a book 
written more than four hundred years ago. English has 
been, and still is, hospitable to new words, so that its vo¬ 
cabulary has grown very fast by the adoption of terms 
from Latin, French, and other languages. These have im¬ 
mensely increased the expressiveness of English, while giving 
it a position midway between the very different Romance 
and Teutonic languages. 

185. National Literatures 

Medieval literature includes some notable productions. 
Many beautiful hymns were composed in Latin. A number 
of them have been translated into English, such Latinhymns 
as the familiar “Jerusalem the Golden. Latin 
hymns made use of rhyme, then something of a novelty, 
and thus helped to popularize this poetic device. 

A pleasant glimpse of gay society is afforded by the songs 
of the troubadours. These professional poets flourished in 
the south of France, but many of them traveled songs of the 
from court to court in other countries. Their troubadours 
verses, composed in the Provengal language, which is closely 
related to French, were always sung to the accompaniment 
of some musical instrument. Romantic love and deeds of 
chivalry were the two themes which most inspired the 
troubadours. They, too, took up the use of rhyme, using 
it so skillfully as to become the teachers of Europe in lyric 
poetry. 

Northern France gave birth to epic or narrative poems, 


560 Life and Thought during the Middle Ages 

describing the exploits of mythical heroes or historic kings. 
Such poems enjoyed high esteem in aristocratic circles and 
“ Song of penetrated all countries where feudalism pre- 
Roiand” vailed. Many of the French epics dealt with 

Charlemagne and his reign. The oldest and at the same time 
the finest of them is the Song of Roland. The poem centers 
around Roland, one of the twelve peers of France. When 
leading the rear guard of Charlemagne’s army out of Spain, 
Roland is suddenly attacked in the Pass of Roncesvalles 

by the treacherous Moors. He 
slays the enemy in heaps with 
his good sword, and only after 
nearly all the Franks have per¬ 
ished sounds his magic horn to 
summon aid. Charlemagne, 
fifteen leagues distant, hears 
its notes and returns quickly. 
Before help arrives, Roland has 
fallen. He dies on the field of 
battle, with his face to the foe, 
and a prayer on his lips that 
“sweet France” may never be 
dishonored. This stirring poem 
appealed strongly to the mar¬ 
tial Normans. A medieval 
chronicler relates that just be¬ 
fore the battle of Hastings (§ 126) a Norman minstrel rode 
out between the lines, tossing his sword in air and catching 
it again, as he chanted the song “of Roland and of Charle¬ 
magne, of Oliver and many a brave vassal who lost his life 
at Roncesvalles.” 

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were also 
important figures in medieval legend. Arthur was said to 
Arthurian have reigned in Britain early in the sixth century 
romances an d to have fought against the Anglo-Saxons. 
Whether he ever lived or not we do not know. This Celtic 
king stands forth in the Arthurian romances as the model 



Roland at Roncesvalles 


From a thirteenth-century window of 
stained glass in Chartres Cathedral. At 
the right, Roland sounding his horn; at 
the left, Roland endeavoring to break his 
sword Durendal. 



National Literatures 


561 


knight, the ideal of noble chivalry. Sir Thomas Malory’s 
Morte (TArthur, one of the first books to be printed in Eng¬ 
land, contains many of the narratives from which Tennyson, 
in his Idylls of the King , and other modern poets have drawn 
their inspiration. 

The greatest epic composed in Germany during the Middle 
Ages was the Nibelungenlied (“Song of the Nibelungs’’). 
It centers about the hero Siegfried, a figure of “ Nibe- 
story and not of history. He had slain the two lun s enlied ” 
kings of the Nibelungs and had seized their treasure, together 
with the magic cloud-cloak which rendered its wearer in¬ 
visible to human eyes. He had also killed a dragon and by 
bathing in its blood had become invulnerable, except in one 
place where a linden leaf touched his body. Siegfried mar¬ 
ries Kriemhild, a beautiful Burgundian princess, and with 
her lives most happily. A curse attached to the Nibelung 
treasure, however, and Siegfried’s enemy, the “grim Hagen,’’ 
treacherously slays him by a spear thrust in the one spot 
where he could be hurt. Many years afterward his wife 
takes bloody vengeance on Hagen and the Burgundians for 
her husband’s death. The name of the poet who compiled 
and probably wrote much of the Nibelungenlied remains un¬ 
known, but his work has a place among German classics. 

No account of medieval literature ought to omit a reference 
to Reynard the Fox. This is a long poem, first written in 
Latin, and then turned into the chief languages “ Reynard 
of Europe. The characters are animals: Rey- theFox ” 
nard, cunning and audacious, who outwits all his foes; 
Chanticleer the Cock; Bruin the Bear; Isengrim the Wolf; 
and many others. They are animals in name only. We see 
them worship like Christians, go to Mass, ride on horseback, 
debate in councils, and amuse themselves with hawking and 
hunting. Satire often creeps in, as when the villainous Fox 
confesses his sins to the Badger or vows that he will go to the 
Holy Land on a pilgrimage. The special interest of this work 
lies in the fact that it expressed the feelings of the common 
people, groaning under the oppression of feudal lords. 


562 Life and Thought during the Middle Ages 

The same democratic spirit breathes in the old English bal¬ 
lads of the outlaw Robin Hood. He is said to have flourished 
in the second half of the twelfth cen¬ 
tury, when Henry II and Richard 
Robin Hood the Lion-hearted reigned 
ballads over England. Robin 
Hood, with his merry men, leads 
an adventurous life in Sherwood 
Forest, engaging in feats of strength 
and hunting the king’s tall deer. 
Bishops, sheriffs, and gamekeepers 
are his only enemies. He has the 
greatest pity for the common peo¬ 
ple, and robs the rich to give to the 
poor. Courtesy, generosity, and 
love of fair play are some of the characteristics which made 
him a popular hero. If King Arthur was the ideal knight, 
Robin Hood was the ideal yeoman. The ballads about him 
were sung by country folk for hundreds of years. 

186. Architecture: the Cathedrals 

Architecture made little advance in western Europe for 
several centuries after the barbarian invasions, except in 
Two archi- Italy, which was subject to Byzantine influence, 
tecturai styles an d j n Spain, which was a center of Arabic cul¬ 
ture. The architectural revival dates from the time of 
Charlemagne, with the adoption of a style of building called 
Romanesque, because it went back to Roman principles of 
construction (§ 99). Romanesque architecture arose in 
northern Italy and southern France and gradually spread 
to other European countries. It was followed by Gothic 
architecture, which prevailed during the later Middle Ages. 

The church of the early Christians seems to have been 
Romanesque modeled upon the Roman basilica (§ 99), with 
style its arrangement of nave and aisles, its semicir¬ 

cular recess (apse) at one end, and its flat roof supported by 



Robin Hood 

After a picture in an eighteenth- 
century pamphlet. 







Architecture: the Cathedrals 


563 


columns. The Romanesque church 1 departed from the ba¬ 
silican plan by the introduction of transepts, thus giving the 
building the form of a Latin cross. A dome, which might 
be covered by a pointed roof, was generally raised over the 
junction of the nave and transepts. The apse was also en¬ 
larged to form the choir, a place reserved for the clergy. 



Plan of Salisbury Cathedral, England 


1 Principal west doorway; 2, 3 aisles of nave; 4 north porch; 5 tower; 6, 6 pulpits; 
7 throne; 8 altar; 9 font; 10, 11 choir aisles; 12, 13 east or choir transept; 14 sacristy; 
15 cloister; 16 chapter house. 

The Romanesque church further differed from a basilica in 
the use of vaulting to take the place of a flat ceiling. The 
Romans had constructed their vaulted roofs and domes in 
concrete, which forms a rigid mass and rests securely upon 
1 See the plate facing page 548. 






































Gothic style 


564 Life and Thought during the Middle Ages 

the walls like the lid of a box. Medieval architects, however, 
Vaulting built in stone, which exerts an outward thrust 
and the and tends to force the walls apart. Consequently, 
round arch they were obliged to make the walls very thick 
and to strengthen them by piers, or buttresses, on the out¬ 
side of the edifice. It was also 
necessary to reduce the width of 
the vaulted spaces. The vault¬ 
ing, windows, and doorways had 
the form of the round arch, that 
is, a semicircle, as in the ancient 
Roman monuments. 

Gothic architecture arose in 
France, in the country around 
Paris, at a time when 
the French kingdom 
was taking the lead in European 
affairs. The style spread to Eng¬ 
land, Germany, the Netherlands, 
and even to southern Europe. 
As an old chronicler wrote, “It 
was as if the whole world had 
thrown off the rags of its ancient 
time, and had arrayed itself in the 
white robes of the churches/’ 
The term “Gothic” was applied 
to this style by writers of the six¬ 
teenth and seventeenth centuries, 
who regarded everything non- 
classical as barbarous. They believed it to be an invention 
of the barbarian Goths, and so they called it Gothic. 

The Gothic style formed a natural development from Ro- 
Ribbed manesque. The architects of a Gothic church 
vaulting and wished to retain the vaulted ceiling, but at the 
same time to do away with thick, solid walls, 
which had so little window space as to leave the 
interior of the building dark and gloomy. They solved this 



Cross Section of Amiens 
Cathedral 

A, vaulting; B, ribs; C, flying but¬ 
tresses; D, buttresses; E, low win¬ 
dows; F, clerestory. 


the flying 
buttress 







































REIMS CATHEDRAL 

The cathedral of Notre Dame at Reims in northwestern France stands on the site where 
Clovis was baptized by St. Remi. Here most of the French kings were consecrated with 
holy oil by the archbishops of Reims. Except the west front, which was built in the four¬ 
teenth century, the cathedral was completed by the end of the thirteenth century. The 
towers, 267 feet high, were originally designed to reach 394 feet. The fagade, with its three 
arched portals, exquisite rose window, and “gallery of the kings,” is justly celebrated. The 
cathedral — walls, roof, statues, and windows — was terribly damaged by the German bom* 
bardment during the late war 









































This cathedral, which is surpassed in size among European churches only by St. Peter's at Rome and the Cathedral of 
Seville, was begun in 1386 and was not entirely completed for more than four centuries thereafter. The material is brick 
cased in marble. The many flying buttresses, the countless pinnacles surmounted by statues, and the vast and splendid 
windows all stamp the building as essentially Northern Gothic in architectural style. 







































Architecture: the Cathedrals 


565 


problem, in the first place, by using a great number of 
stone ribs, which gathered up the weight of the ceiling 
and rested on pillars. Ribbed vaulting made possible higher 
ceilings, spanning wider areas, than in Romanesque churches. 
In the second place, the pillars supporting the ribs were 
themselves connected by means of flying buttresses with 
stout piers of masonry outside the walls of the church. These 
walls, relieved from the pressure of the ceiling, now became a 
mere screen to keep out the 
weather. They could be 
built of light materials and 
opened up with high, wide 
windows. 

Gothic builders also made 
use of the pointed arch. 

It Was not Chris- The pointed 
tian in origin, for arch 
it had long been known to 
the Arabs in the Near East 
and the Moslem conquerors 
of Sicily. The semicircular 
or round arch can be only 
half as high as it is wide, 
but the pointed arch may 
vary greatly in its propor¬ 
tions. The use of this de¬ 
vice enabled the Gothic 
builder to bridge over different widths at any required height. 
It is also lighter and more graceful than the round arch. 

The labors of the Gothic architect were admirably seconded 
by those of other artists. The sculptor cut figures of men, 
animals, and plants in the utmost profusion. Gothic 
The painter covered vacant wall spaces with ornament 
brilliant mosaics and frescoes. The wood carver made ex¬ 
quisite choir stalls, pulpits, altars, and screens. Master 
workmen filled the stone tracery of the windows with stained 
glass unequaled in coloring by the finest modern work. 



Gargoyles on the Cathedral of 


Notre Dame, Paris 

Strange, grotesque figures and faces of stone, 
used as ornaments on Gothic buildings and as 
spouts to carry off rain water. They represent 
beasts, demons, and other creations of medieval 
fancy. 







566 Life and Thought during the Middle Ages 

Some rigorous churchmen condemned the expense of these 
magnificent structures, but most men found in their beauty 
sufficient justification. 

The Gothic cathedral perfectly expressed the religious 
spirit of the Middle Ages. For its erection kings and nobles 
The cathedral °ff erec l costly gifts. The common people, when 
as a religious they had no money to give, contributed their 
edifice labor, each man doing what he could to carry up¬ 

ward the walls and towers and to perfect every part of God’s 



House of Jacques Cceur, Bourges 

Jacques Coeur, born about 1400, was one of the great financiers and merchants of his 
day and an organizer of French commerce. His house at Bourges is an admirable example 
of Gothic domestic architecture. 

dwelling. The interior of such a cathedral, with its vast 
nave rising in swelling arches to the vaulted roof, its clustered 
columns, its glowing windows, and infinite variety of orna¬ 
mentation, forms the most awe-inspiring sanctuary ever 
raised by man. 



















Education: the Universities 


567 


Gothic architecture, though at first confined to churches, 
came to be used for other buildings. Monuments of the secu¬ 
lar Gothic include beautiful town halls, guild The secular 
halls, markets, and charming private houses. Gothic 
The cathedral remained, however, the finest expression of the 
Gothic style. 

187. Education: the Universities 

The educational system of the early Middle Ages was based 
on monastic and cathedral schools, where boys were trained 
to become monks or priests. Such schools had schools 
been created or restored by Charlemagne (§ 117). ( 355 ~ 356 ) 
The teaching, which lay entirely in the hands of the clergy, 
was elementary in character. Pupils learned enough Latin 
grammar to read religious books, if not always to understand 
them, and enough music to follow the services of the Church. 
They also studied arithmetic by means of the awkward 
Roman notation and geometry in Euclid’s propositions, re¬ 
ceived a smattering of astronomy, and sometimes gained a 
little knowledge of such subjects as geography, law, and 
philosophy. Besides these monastic and cathedral schools, 
others were maintained by the guilds and by private bene¬ 
factors. 

There are about fifty European universities dating from the 
later Middle Ages. They arose, as it were, spontaneously. 
Western Europe in the eleventh and twelfth cen- Rise of 
turies felt the thrill of a great intellectual revival, universities 
It was stimulated by intercourse with the highly cultivated 
Arabs in Spain, Sicily, and the Near East, and with the 
Greek scholars of Constantinople during the Crusades. The 
desire for instruction became so general that elementary 
schools could not satisfy it. Other schools were then opened 
in the cities, and to them flocked eager learners from every 
quarter. 

How easily a university might grow up about the person¬ 
ality of some eminent teacher is shown by the career of 


568 Life and Thought during the Middle Ages 

Abelard. The eldest son of a noble family in Brittany, 
Abelard would naturally have entered upon a military career, 

Peter Abe- but he ch ° Se instead the life ° f a Sch ° lar and 

lard, 1079- the contests of debate. He came to Paris and 
1142 attended the lectures given by a master of the 

cathedral school of Notre Dame. Abelard himself soon set 
up as a lecturer. Few teachers have ever attracted so large 
and so devoted a following. His lecture room under the 
shadow of the great cathedral was filled with a crowd of 
youths and men drawn from all countries. 

The fame of Abelard led to an increase of masters and 
students at Paris and so paved the way for the establishment 
university of of the university there, later in the twelfth 
Paris (358) century. Paris soon became such a center of 
learning, particularly in theology and philosophy, that a 
medieval writer referred to it as “the mill where the world’s 
corn is ground, and the hearth where its bread is baked.” 
The University of Paris, in the time of its greatest prosperity, 
had over five thousand students. It furnished the model for 
Oxford University in England, as well as for the learned 
institutions of Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, and Germany. 

The institutions of learning in southern Europe were 
modeled, more or less, upon the University of Bologna. At 
University of this Italian city a celebrated teacher named Irne- 
Boiogna (357) r i us gathered about him thousands of pupils for 
the study of the Corpus Juris Civilis , the code of Justinian 
(§ 161). The university developed out of his law school. 
Bologna was the center from which the Roman system of 
jurisprudence made its way into France, Germany, and other 
Continental countries. 

The word “university” meant at first simply a union or 
association. All artisans in the Middle Ages belonged to 

guilds, and when masters and pupils associated 

Decrees o a 

themselves for teaching and study they natu¬ 
rally copied the guild form. After passing his preliminary 
examinations, a student (apprentice) became a “bachelor 
of arts” (journeyman) and might teach certain elementary 


Education: the Universities 


569 


subjects to those beneath him. Upon the completion of the 
full course — usually six years in length — the bachelor took 
his final examinations and, if successful, received the coveted 
degree of “master of arts.” Many students, of course, never 
took a degree at all. 

The members of a university usually lived in a number of 
colleges. These seem to have been at first little more than 
lodging houses, where poor students were cared 
for at the expense of some benefactor. As the ° eges 
colleges increased in wealth, through the gifts made to them, 
they became centers of instruction under the direction of 
masters. At Oxford 
and Cambridge, where 
the collegiate system 
has been retained to 
the present time, each 
college possesses sepa¬ 
rate buildings and en¬ 
joys the privilege of 
sel f-go vernment. 

The subjects of in¬ 
struction in a univer¬ 
sity were grouped 
under the four facul¬ 
ties of arts, theology, 
law, and medicine. 

The first-named fac¬ 
ulty taught the “seven 
liberal arts”; that is, grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, 
music, geometry, and astronomy. Theology, law, and medi¬ 
cine then, as now, were professional subjects, Faculties 
taken up after the completion of the arts course. 

Owing to the constant movement of students from one uni¬ 
versity to another, each institution tended to specialize in 
one or more fields of learning. Thus, Paris came to be noted 
for theology; Montpellier, Padua, and Salerno for medicine; 
and Orleans, Bologna, and Salamanca for law. 
























570 Life and Thought during the Middle Ages 

A university did not need an expensive collection of li¬ 
braries, laboratories, and museums. The only necessary 
equipment consisted of lecture rooms for the pro- 
Teaching fessors> Not even benches or chairs were re¬ 
quired, for students often sat on the straw-strewn floors. 
The high price of manuscripts compelled professors to give 
all instruction by lectures. This method of teaching is still 
used to some extent in modern universities. 

The universities were under the protection of the Church, 
and those who attended them had some of the privileges of 
clergymen. Students did not pay taxes or serve 
The students ^ soldiers> They also enjoyed the right of trial 

in their own courts. This was an especially valuable priv¬ 
ilege, for medieval scholars were constantly getting into 
trouble with the city authorities. The sober annals of many 
a university are relieved by tales of truly Homeric conflicts 
between Town and Gown. When the students were dis¬ 
satisfied with their treatment in one place, it was always 
easy for them to go to another university. Sometimes mas¬ 
ters and scholars made off in a body. Oxford seems to have 
owed its existence to a large migration of English students 
from Paris; Cambridge arose as the result of a migration 
from Oxford, and the University of Leipzig sprang from 
that of Prague in Bohemia. 


188. Scholasticism 

Theology formed the chief subject of instruction in most 
medieval universities. Nearly all the celebrated scholars of 
Theological the age were theologians. They sought to ar- 
siudy range the doctrines of the Church in systematic 

and reasonable form, in order to answer those great questions 
concerning the nature of God and of the soul which have 
always occupied the human mind. It was therefore necessary 
to call in the aid of philosophy. The union of theology and 
philosophy produced what is known as scholasticism, the 
method of the school (Latin schola). 


Magdalen is perhaps the most beautiful college in Oxford. The bell tower stands on High Street, the principal thoroughfare of Oxford, and adjoins Magdalen 

Bridge, built across the Cherwell. The tower was begun in 1492 and completed about thirteen years later. 
























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Gothic spire surmounted by a statue of St. Michael. 


















Scholasticism 


571 


The philosophy on which the scholastics relied was chiefly 
that of Aristotle (§62). Christian Europe read him at first 
in Latin translations from the Arabic, but ver- study of 
sions were later made from Greek copies found in Aristotle 
Constantinople and elsewhere in the Near East. This revival 
of Aristotle, though it broadened men’s minds by acquaint¬ 
ing them with the ideas of the greatest of Greek thinkers, 
had serious drawbacks. It discouraged rather than favored 
the search for new truth. Many scholastics were satisfied 
to appeal to Aristotle’s authority, rather than take the trou¬ 
ble of finding out things for themselves. The story is told 
of a medieval student who, having detected spots in the sun, 
announced his discovery to a learned man. “My son,’’ said 
the latter, “I have read Aristotle many times, and I assure 
you there is nothing of the kind mentioned by him. Be 
certain that the spots which you have seen are in your eyes 
and not in the sun.” 

There were many famous scholastics, or “schoolmen,” but 
easily the foremost among them was the Italian monk, 
Thomas Aquinas. He taught at Paris, Cologne, st Thomas 
Rome, and Bologna, and became so celebrated for Aquinas, 
learning as to be known as the “Angelic Doctor.” 1227-1274 
Though Aquinas died at an early age, he left behind him no 
less than eighteen folio volumes. His Summa Theologize 
(“Compendium of Theology”), as the name indicates, 
gathered up all that the Middle Ages believed of the relations 
between God and man. The Roman Church has placed him 
among her saints and still recommends the study of his 
writings as the foundation of all sound theology. 

Most medieval universities did little to encourage original 
research. Law students memorized the code of Justinian. 
Medical students learned anatomy and physiol- The 
ogy from old Greek books, instead of in the dis- scholastic 
secting room. Theologians went to the Bible, method (369) 
Christian authors, or Aristotle for the solution of all prob¬ 
lems. Some of them liked to debate the most subtle ques¬ 
tions; for instance, “Can God ever know more than He 


572 Life and Thought during the Middle Ages 

knows that He knows?” Mental gymnastics of this sort 
furnished a good training in logic, but added nothing to the 
sum of human knowledge. Better methods of study de¬ 
veloped when men began to substitute careful observation 
and experiment for speculation. 

189. Science and Invention 

The twelfth and thirteenth centuries were marked by a 
healthy interest in science. Long encyclopedias, written in 
Pure science Latin, collected all available information about 
(370-371) the WO rld. The study of physics, chemistry, and 
astronomy made conspicuous progress, partly as a result 
of the influence of Arabic scholars. Considerable work was 

also done in arithmetic 
and algebra, continu¬ 
ing the researches of 
the Arabs in these sub¬ 
jects. It was from this 
time that the ‘ Arabic ’ ’ 
numerals (§ 152), with 
their symbol for zero, 
began to displace fin¬ 
ger counting and the 
abacus in Christian 
Europe. 

We may take the 
Englishman, Roger 
Bacon, as a represent¬ 
ative of this scientific 
interest. He studied at'Paris, where his attainments secured 
for him the title of the “Wonderful Doctor,” and lectured at 
Roger Bacon, Oxford. At a period when Aristotle’s influence 
about 1214 - was unbounded, Bacon turned away from the- 
ology and philosophy to mathematics and the 
sciences. No great discoveries were made by him, but it is 
interesting to read a passage in one of his works where some 



Roger Bacon 

After a fifteenth-century manuscript in the 
Bodleian Library, Oxford. 

















Science and Invention 


573 


modern inventions are distinctly foreseen. In time, he wrote, 
ships will be moved without rowers, and carriages will be pro¬ 
pelled without animals to draw them. Machines for flying 
will also be constructed, “wherein a man sits revolving some 
engine by which artificial wings are made to beat the air 
like a flying bird.” Even in Bacon’s day it would seem that 
people had visions of steamboats, automobiles, and airplanes. 

Various practical inventions, which were made in the later 
Middle Ages, include spectacles and magnifying glasses, later 
to be developed into the telescope and micro- Applied 
scope; mechanical clocks, marking the passage science 
of time with fair accuracy; and mirrors of glass, replacing 
those of burnished metal. Two other inventions worked 
out at this period had an especially important effect on the 
course of civilization. The two were the mariner’s compass 
and gunpowder. 

The origin of the mariner’s compass is uncertain. The 
Chinese have been credited with the discovery that a needle, 
when rubbed with a lodestone, has the myste- The mariner’s 
rious power of pointing to the north. The Arabs com P ass 
may have introduced this rude form of the compass among 
Mediterranean sailors. The instrument, improved by being 
balanced on a pivot so that it would not be affected by 
choppy seas, was first used by Europeans in the thirteenth 
century. It enabled sailors to find their bearings even in 
murky weather and on starless nights. The mariner’s com¬ 
pass came to be of great aid in the long voyages of discovery 
which were undertaken during early modern times. 

The compound of saltpeter, charcoal, and sulphur, known 
as gunpowder, seems to have been first used by the Chinese 
and later by the Arabs. Europeans discovered 

J , , , * , Gunpowder 

the secret of it as early as the thirteenth century. 

They regarded it as merely a sort of fireworks, producing a 
sudden and brilliant flame, and did not suspect that in a con¬ 
fined space the expansive power of its gases could be used to 
hurl projectiles. Gunpowder was occasionally manufactured 
as a propellant during the fourteenth century, but for a long 


574 Life and Thought during the Middle Ages 

time it made more noise than it did harm. Small brass 
cannon, throwing stone or iron balls, began at length to 

displace the medieval siege 
weapons, and still later mus¬ 
kets took the place of the bow, 
the crossbow, and the pike. 
The revolution in the art of 
warfare introduced by gun¬ 
powder had vast importance. 
It destroyed the usefulness 
of the castle and enabled the 
peasant to fight the mailed 
knight on equal terms. Gun¬ 
powder, accordingly, must be included among the forces 
which brought about the downfall of feudalism. 

190. Popular Superstitions 

It would be possible to draw up a long list of the super¬ 
stitions which were believed in by medieval peoples, both 
Alchemy uneducated and educated. Thus, the study of 
( 3? 8) chemistry was much mixed up with alchemy, a 

pseudo-science which western Europe received from the 
Arabs, who in turn had taken it from Alexandrian Greeks 
in the early centuries of the Christian era. The alchemists 
sought for the “philosopher’s stone,” or elixir, which would 
turn the baser metals into gold. They never found it, but 
they learned a good deal about the nature of metals and 
discovered a number of compounds and colors. Alchemy 
in this way contributed to the advance of chemical knowl¬ 
edge. 

Astronomy, the wise mother, had a foolish daughter, as¬ 
trology, the origin of which can be traced back to Babylonia 
Astrology (§24). Medieval students no longer regarded 
the stars as divine, but they believed that the 
natural world and the life of men were controlled by celestial 
influences. Astrologers tried to predict the fate of a person 



Firing a Cannon 

From an English book of 1590. 










Popular Superstitions 575 

from the position of the planets at the time of his birth. 
The planet Venus in this way became connected with love. 
Mars with a warlike disposition, and Jupiter with power and 
“joviality.” Other human characteristics were associated 
with the planets Mercury and Saturn. Astrological rules 
were also drawn from the signs of the zodiac. A child born 
under the sign of the Lion will be courageous; one born under 
the Crab will not go forward well in life; one born under the 
Waterman will probably be drowned, and so forth. Such 



Notice in this picture the symbols for gold (sun), silver (moon), and mercury. 

The lion devouring the snake represents an acid dissolving a salt. 

fancies seem absurd enough, but in the Middle Ages people 
accepted them. 

Alchemy and astrology were not the only instances of 
medieval credulity. The most improbable stories found 
ready acceptance. Roger Bacon, for instance, Medieval 
thought that “flying dragons” still existed in credulity 
Europe and that eating their flesh lengthened (377) 
human life. Works on natural history soberly described the 































576 Life and Thought during the Middle Ages 

lizard-like salamander, which dwelt in fire; the phoenix, a 
bird which, after living for five hundred years, burned 
itself to death and then rose again full-grown from the ashes; 
and the unicorn, whose single horn may have been suggested 
by that of the rhinoceros. Various plants and minerals 
were also credited with marvelous powers. The nasturtium, 
used as a liniment, would keep one’s hair from falling out, 
and the sapphire, when powdered and mixed with milk, 



Halley’s Comet in 1066 

Halley’s comet is named after Edward Halley, an English astronomer, who calculated 
its orbit in 1682 and predicted its return in 1759, a prediction which was verified. The 
left panel from the Bayeux Tapestry shows people gazing in wonder at the comet: Isti 
mirantur stellam. This is the earliest representation of a celestial object which in former 
days was regarded as a portent of evil. 

would heal ulcers and cure headache. Similar beliefs linger 
to-day among uneducated people, even in civilized lands. 

The Middle Ages inherited from antiquity the observance 
of unlucky days. These went under the name of “Egyptian 
TT , . . days,” so called because it was held that on one 
of them the plagues had been sent to devastate 
the land of Egypt and on another Pharaoh and his host had 
been swallowed up in the Red Sea. Twenty-four days in the 
year were regarded as very unlucky. At such times one ought 
not to buy and sell, to build a house, to plant a field, to travel, 











Popular Superstitions 577 

or, in fact, to undertake anything at all important. The 
belief in unlucky days gradually disappeared, but there still 
exists a popular prejudice against Friday. 

The belief in witchcraft, which prevailed in antiquity, was 
also strongly held during the Middle Ages. Witches were 
supposed to have sold themselves to the Devil, witchcraft 
receiving in return the power to work magic. (476) 

They could change themselves or others into animals; they 
had charms against the hurt of weapons; they could raise 
storms and destroy crops; 
and they could convey 
thorns, pins, and other ob¬ 
jects into their victims’ 
bodies, thus causing sick¬ 
ness and death. At night 
they rode on broomsticks 
through the air and as¬ 
sembled in some lonely 
place for feasts, dances, 
and wild revels. The 
Devil himself attended 
these “Witches’ Sab¬ 
baths” and taught his fol¬ 
lowers their diabolic arts, 
discovery of witches, the most usual being the ordeal by 
cold water (§ 130). 

The numerous trials and executions for witchcraft form 
a dark page of history. Thousands of harmless men and 
women were put to death on the charge of being witchcraft 
leagued with the Devil. The most intelligent persecutions 
and humane people believed in the reality of witchcraft. 
The witch epidemic which broke out in America during the 
seventeenth century, reaching its height at Salem, Massa¬ 
chusetts, was simply a reflection of the European fear and 
hatred of witches. 

Magicians of every sort flourished in the Middle Ages. 
Some took omens from dreams, some read fortunes in the 



Miniature in a thirteenth-century manu¬ 
script in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. 
The Devil, attempting to seize a magician who 
had formed a pact with him, is prevented by 
a lay brother. 

There were various tests for the 







578 Life and Thought during the Middle Ages 

lines and irregularities of the hand, and still others pro¬ 
fessed to reveal the future by pretended communications with 
Magicians departed spirits. Magicians also made talismans 
or lucky objects to be worn on the person, mirrors 
in which the images of the dead or the absent were reflected, 
and various powders which, when mixed with food or drink, 
would inspire hatred or affection in the one consuming them. 
There were numberless devices by which practitioners of 
magic made a living at the expense of the ignorant and the 
superstitious. 

191. Popular Amusements and Festivals 

It is pleasant to turn from the superstitions of the Middle 
Ages to the games, sports, and festivals which helped to 
indoor ames ma ^ e agreeable alike for rich and poor, for 
nobles and peasants. Some indoor games are of 
eastern origin. Chess, for instance, arose in India as a war 
game. On each side a king and his general, with chariots, 
cavalry, elephants, and infantry, met in battle array. These 
survive in the rooks, knights, bishops, and pawns of the 
modern game. Checkers is a sort of simplified chess, in 
which the pieces are all pawns, till they get across the board 
and become kings. Playing cards are another Oriental in¬ 
vention. They were introduced into Europe in the four¬ 
teenth century, either by the Arabs or the gypsies. Their 
first use seems to have been for telling fortunes. 

Many outdoor games are derived from those played in 
medieval times. How one kind of game may become the 
Outdoor parent of many others is seen in the case of the 
games ball-play. The ancients tossed and caught balls 

as children do now. They also had a game in which each 
side tried to secure the ball and throw it over the adversary’s 
goal line. This game lasted on into the Middle Ages, and 
from it football has descended. The ancients seem never 
to have used a stick or bat in their ball-play. The Persians, 
however, began to play ball on horseback, using a long mallet 


Popular Amusements and Festivals 


579 


for the purpose, and introduced their new sport throughout 
Asia. Under the Tibetan name of pulu (“ball”) it found 
its way into Europe. When once the mallet had been in¬ 
vented for use on horseback, it could be easily used on foot, 
and so polo gave rise to the various games in which balls are 
hit with bats, including tennis, hockey, golf, cricket, base¬ 
ball, and croquet. 

The difference between our ideas of what constitutes 
“ sport ” and those of our ancestors is shown by the popularity 
of baiting. Bulls, bears, and even horses were Baiting 
baited. Cock-fighting formed another common 
amusement. It was not until the nineteenth century that an 
English society for the 
prevention of cruelty 
to animals succeeded 
in getting a law passed 
which forbade these 
cruel sports. Most civ¬ 
ilized countries now 
have similar laws. 

No account of life in 
the Middle Ages can 
well omit 
some refer¬ 
ence to the celebration 
of festivals. Many fes¬ 
tivals not of Christian 
origin were derived 
from the ceremonies 
with which the heathen 
peoples of Europe had 
been accustomed to 
mark the changes of 


Festivals 



Dancing arofnd the Maypole 

After a fifteenth-century miniature in the 
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. 


the seasons. April Fool’s Day formed a relic of festivities held 
at the vernal equinox. May Day, another festival of spring, 
honored the spirits of trees and of all budding vegetation. 
The persons who acted as May kings and May queens repre- 








580 Life and Thought during the Middle Ages 


sented these spirits. According to the original custom a new 
May tree was cut down in the forest every year, but later a 
permanent Maypole was set up on the village common. On 
Midsummer Eve (June 23), which marked the summer sol¬ 
stice, came the fire festival, when people built bonfires and 
leaped over them, walked in procession with torches around 
the fields, and rolled burning wheels down the hillsides. These 
curious rites may have been once connected with sun worship. 
Hallow Eve, so called from being the eve of All Saints’ Day 




Mummers 

After a manuscript now in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. It was written and illuminated 
during the fourteenth century. 

(November 1), also seems to have been a survival of a heathen 
celebration. Witches and fairies were supposed to assemble 
on this night. The festival of Christmas, coming at the 
winter solstice, kept some heathen features, such as the use 
of mistletoe with which Celtic priests once decked the altars 
of their gods. The Christmas tree, however, is not a relic of 
heathenism. 

Young and old took part in the dances which accompanied 
village festivals. The Morris dance was very popular in 
medieval England. The name, a corruption of Moorish, re- 







581 


Popular Amusements and Festivals 

fers to its origin in Spain. The Morris dance was especially 
associated with May Day and was danced around a Maypole 
to a lively and capering step. The performers The Morris 
represented Robin Hood, Maid Marian, his wife, dance 
Tom the Piper, and other traditional characters. On their 



A Miracle Play at Coventry, England 

The rude platform on wheels, which served as a stage, was drawn by apprentices to the 
market place. Each guild had its own stage. 

garments they wore bells tuned to different notes, so as to 
sound in harmony. 

Mumming had a particular association with Christmas. 
Mummers were bands of men and women who disguised 
themselves in masks and skins of animals and 

Mumming 

then serenaded people outside their houses. The 
Mummers often performed little plays in which Father Christ¬ 
mas, Old King Cole, and St. George were familiar figures. 










































582 Life and Thought during the Middle Ages 

Many plays of a religious character came into vogue during 
the later Middle Ages. The earliest were the miracle plays. 
Miracle plays They presented in dramatic form scenes from the 
( 381 ) Bible and stories of the saints or martyrs. The 

actors at first were priests, and the stage was the church 
itself or the churchyard. This religious setting did not pre¬ 
vent the introduction of clowns and buffoons. The miracle 
play after a time passed from the clergy to the guilds. All 
the guilds of a town usually gave an exhibition once a year. 
Each guild presented a single scene in the story. An exhi¬ 
bition might last for several days and have as many as fifty 
scenes, beginning at Creation and ending with Doomsday. 

The ‘ ‘ miracles ’ ’ were followed by the ‘ ‘ moralities. ’ ’ These 
dealt with the struggle between good and evil, rather than 
Morality with religious history. Characters such as Char- 

piays ity, Faith, Prudence, Riches, Confession, and 

Death appeared and enacted a story intended to teach 
moral lessons. Both miracle and morality plays survived 
into sixteenth-century England and influenced the develop¬ 
ment of the modern drama in that country. 

192. Manners and Customs 

The decline of feudalism, resulting in the cessation of pri¬ 
vate warfare, made it unnecessary for the nobility to build 
Dwellings huge and uncomfortable castles. Many of these 

were either torn down or made over into country ' 
houses. Though less bare and inconvenient than castles, 
they were still poorly lighted, ill-ventilated, and in winter 
scarcely warmed by the open wood fires. It was a great 
improvement when glass windows came to be substituted 
for wooden shutters or oiled paper. The introduction of 
chimneys to keep heat in and let smoke out formed yet 
another improvement. After the Gothic style came to be 
used for secular buildings (§ 186), beautiful and commodious 
residences were often erected by nobles and merchants in 
the cities. 


Manners and Customs 


583 


People in the Middle Ages, even the well-to-do, got along 
with little furniture. The great hall of a country house con¬ 
tained a long dining table, with benches used at „ . 

i . 0 . ° Furniture 

meals, and a few stools. The family beds often 
occupied curtained recesses in the walls, but guests might 
have to sleep on the floor of the manor hall. Servants often 
slept in the stables. Few persons could afford rugs to cover 
the floor; the poor had to put up with rushes. Utensils 



Sulgrave Manor House 

Sulgrave, in Northamptonshire, was the ancestral home of the Washington family. 
The manor house, built by Lawrence Washington about the middle of the sixteenth cen¬ 
tury, bears the family coat-of-arms on the porch. This historic dwelling has been purchased 
by an English committee for preservation as a memorial of the friendship and blood- 
relationship between England and the United States. 

were few, and articles of glass and silver were practically un¬ 
known, except in the houses of the rich. 

The pictures in old manuscripts give us a good idea of 
medieval dress. It naturally varied with time and place, 
and according to the social position of the wearer, costume 
Laws were sometimes passed, without much re- < 384 > 
suit, to regulate the quality, shape, and cost of the costumes 
to be worn by different orders of society. The moralists of 
the age were shocked, then as now, when tightly fitting gar¬ 
ments, which showed the outlines of the body, became fash¬ 
ionable. The inconvenience of putting them on led to the 



Farm Work in the Fourteenth Century 


Plowing Harrowing Cutting Weeds Reaping 




















































Manners and Customs 


585 


use of buttons and buttonholes. Women’s headdresses were 
often of extraordinary height and shape. Not less remarkable 
were the pointed shoes worn by men. The points finally got 
so long that they hindered walking, unless tied by a ribbon 
to the knees. 

Medieval cookbooks show that people of means had all 
sorts of elaborate and expensive dishes. Dinner at a noble¬ 
man’s house might include as many as ten or Food 
twelve courses, mostly meats and game. Such 
things as hedgehogs, peacocks, sparrows, and porpoises, 



A ward in a hospital at Paris in the sixteenth century. The patients (two in a bed) are 
waited on by nuns. One patient is being attended by a priest, who administers to him 
the Eucharist. 


which would hardly tempt the modem palate, were relished. 
Much use was made of spices in preparing meats and gravies 
and for flavoring wines. 

People in medieval times had no knives or forks and conse¬ 
quently ate with their fingers. Daggers also were Table eti- 
employed to convey food to the mouth. Forks quette (380) 
date from the end of the thirteenth century, but were 

















































































586 Life and Thought during the Middle Ages 

adopted only slowly. Napkins were another table conven¬ 
ience unknown in the Middle Ages. 

Ale and beer formed the drink of the common people, 
taking the place of tea and coffee now. The upper classes 
regaled themselves on costly wines. Drunken- 

Dnnking ° T , J , , , , 

ness was common. It seems to have been char¬ 
acteristic of the barbarian invaders. The Northmen were 
hard drinkers, and of the ancient Germans a Roman writer 
states that “to pass an entire day and night in drinking 
disgraces no one.” This habit of intoxication survived in 
medieval Germany, and the Anglo-Saxons and Danes intro¬ 
duced it into England. 

We have now completed our study of the so-called Middle 
Ages. Our attention has been fixed chiefly on western Europe. 
From That part of the Continent, though the smaller 

medieval to part, played in medieval times a more important 
modem times r ^ e ^ an did eastern Europe. We must now set 
forth those changes in ways of thinking and ways of doing 
which began to transform the civilization of the Middle Ages 
into that of modern times. We begin with the Renaissance. 


Anglo-Saxon 
Provengal language 
troubadour 
Song of Roland 
Arthurian romances 
Nibelungenlied 
Reynard the Fox 
Romanesque architecture 
Gothic architecture 


For Explanation 

transepts 
nave 
choir 

flying buttress 
pointed arch 
Abelard 
Imerius 

Seven Liberal Arts 
scholasticism 


St. Thomas Aquinas 
Roger Bacon 
alchemy 
witchcraft 
Midsummer Eve 
Morris dance 
mumming 
miracle play 
morality play 


For Discussion 

1. Show how Latin served as an international language in the Middle 
Ages. 

2. What is meant by saying that “French is a mere patois of Latin”? 

3. In what parts of the world is English now the prevailing speech? 


Manners and Customs 587 

4. What productions of medieval literature reflect aristocratic and 
democratic ideals, respectively? 

5. Distinguish between the Romanesque and Gothic styles of archi¬ 
tecture. What is the origin of each term? 

6. Contrast a Gothic cathedral with a Greek temple, particularly in 
regard to size, support of the roof, windows, and decorative features. 

7. Why is there some excuse for describing a Gothic building as “a wall 
of glass with a roof of stone”? 

8. Do you see any resemblance in structural features between a Gothic 
cathedral and a modem “skyscraper”? 

9. “The Gothic cathedral was the greatest, most inclusive, most com¬ 
prehensive work of art of the Middle Ages, perhaps of all civilization.” 
Comment on this statement. 

10. Compare medieval with modern universities, noticing both resem¬ 
blances and differences between them. 

11. Mention some important subjects of instruction in modern universities 
which were not treated in those of the Middle Ages. 

12. Why has scholasticism been called “a sort of Aristotelian Christi¬ 
anity”? 

13. Show the indebtedness of chemistry to alchemy and of astronomy to 
astrology. 

14. Why was Friday regarded as a specially unlucky day? 


For Further Study 

1. Trace the language frontier between Romance and Teutonic peoples 
in medieval Europe (map, page 556). 

2. Compare the ground plans of a Greek temple (page 204), a Roman 
basilica (page 312), and a Gothic cathedral (page 563). 

3. Locate the following places where Gothic cathedrals are found: 
Canterbury, York, Salisbury, Reims, Amiens, Chartres, Cologne, 
Strasbourg, Burgos, Toledo, and Milan (map between pages 426-427). 

4. Name the countries containing these medieval universities: Oxford 
and Cambridge; Orleans and Montpellier; Bologna, Padua, and 
Salerno; Salamanca; Cologne and Leipzig; and Prague. 

5. Write an imaginary account of a student’s day at the medieval Uni¬ 
versity of Paris. 

6. Give the derivation of the words university, scholasticism, and theology. 

7. Look up the original (astrological) meaning of the words jovial, 
saturnine, mercurial, disastrous, contemplate, consider, and influence. 

8. List the most important contributions to civilization made during the 
Middle Ages. 

9. Study the frontispiece. How much can you see and describe in this 
picture? 


588 Life and Thought during the Middle Ages 


Supplementary 

Webster, Readings in Early European History, chapter xl, “Medieval 
Tales”; chapter xli, “Three Medieval Epics.” 

Webster and Webb, Historical Outline Maps and Exercises: Early Euro¬ 
pean History, No. XV, The Peoples of Europe at the Beginning of the 
Tenth Century. 



Interior of an English Manor House 


Shows the great hall of a manor house at Penshurst, Kent. The screen with the 
minstrels’ gallery over it is seen at the end of the hall, and in the center, the bra¬ 
zier for fire. Built about 1340. 





















































Part F1I 

THE TRANSITION TO MODERN 
CIVILIZATION 

(Chapters XXV-XXVII) 


The Middle Ages drew to an end. Various dates for their con¬ 
clusion have been suggested: the invention of printing (about 
1450 ); the capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks 
( 1453 ); the discovery of America ( 1492 ); the opening-up of a 
new sea route to the East Indies ( 1498 ); the beginning of the 
Reformation ( 1517 ); and the end of the religious wars ( 1648 ). 
All these were events of much significance. However, it is no 
more necessary to fix a definite time for the close of the Middle 
Ages than for their commencement. The transition from medieval 
to modern civilization took place gradually and continued through¬ 
out the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries and even 
into the seventeenth century. It was marked, in the first place, 
by the movement called the Renaissance, which is treated in 
Chapter XXV. 

There was also a great growth of the exploring spirit on the part 
of western European peoples. In consequence, commerce was 
vastly stimulated, new routes to the Far East were found, and the 
American continents, previously unknown, were opened up to 
settlement. Europe began to widen into a greater Europe beyond 
the ocean. Geographical discovery and colonization form the 
subject of Chapter XXVI. 

Still another movement, the Protestant Reformation, involved 
a decisive break with the teaching of the Roman Church and with 
the authority of the Papacy. It created the various Protestant 
sects and so destroyed the religious unity of western Christendom. 
It also led to a Catholic Counter Reformation in those parts of 
Europe which remained faithful to Rome. Finally, it produced 
an outburst of religious intolerance and religious wars which con¬ 
vulsed much of western Europe for more than a hundred years. 
The Reformation is discussed in Chapter XXVII. 



CHAPTER XXV 
THE RENAISSANCE 

The movement of the Renaissance emancipated men from the some¬ 
what narrow limits of medievalism; it opened to them the knowledge of 
the ancients, and gave them a glimpse of the worlds of thought beyond, 
of which the New World about to be discovered to the west seemed but a 
type. 

— A. H. Johnson 

193. Revival of Learning in Italy 

The French word Renaissance , meaning Rebirth or Re¬ 
vival, is particularly applied to the rebirth or revival of man's 
interest in the learning and art of classical an- The Renais 
tiquity. More broadly understood, the word sance an^' 
refers to the cultivation of all sorts of new intel- “ Italian 

event 

lectual activities by the scholars, artists, scien¬ 
tists, and men of letters of the period. The human spirit 
seemed to be renewed, thus leading to the development of 
a culture more liberal and humane, but also more worldly 
and pleasure-seeking, than that of the Middle Ages. Italy 
was the original home of the Renaissance. There it first 
appeared, there it found widest acceptance, and there it 
reached the highest development. From Italy the Renais¬ 
sance spread beyond the Alps and made the round of western 
Europe. 

Italy was a land particularly favorable to the growth of 
literature and the arts. The great cities of Milan, Pisa, 
Genoa, Florence, Venice, and many others had Ita ii a n cities 
early succeeded in throwing off their feudal bur- of the Renais- 
dens and had become independent, self-governing sance 
communities. Democracy flourished in them, as in the old 
Greek city-states (§ 36). Noble birth counted for little; a 

591 


592 


The Renaissance 


man of ability and ambition might rise to any place. The 
fierce party conflicts within their walls stimulated mental 
activity and helped to make life full, varied, and intense. 
Their widespread trade and thriving manufactures made 
them prosperous. Wealth brought leisure, bred a taste for 
luxury and the refinements of life, and gave means for the 
gratification of that taste. People wanted to have about 
them beautiful pictures, statuary, furniture, palaces, and 
churches; and they rewarded richly the artists who could 
produce such things. It is not without significance that the 
birthplace of the Italian Renaissance was democratic, in¬ 
dustrial, and wealthy Florence (§ 181). 

Knowledge of the classics did not entirely disappear in 
western Europe after the barbarian invasions. The monas- 
The classics t er y and cathedral schools of the Middle Ages had 
in the nourished devoted students of ancient books. 

Middle Ages The Benedictine monks labored zealously in 
copying the works of pagan as well as Christian authors. 
The rise of universities made it possible for the student to 
pursue a fairly extended course in Latin literature at more 
than one institution of learning. Greek literature, however, 
was little known in the West. The poems of Homer were 
read only in a brief Latin summary, and even Aristotle’s 
writings were studied in Latin translations. 

Reverence for the classics finds constant expression in the 
writings of the Italian poet Dante. He was a native of 
Dante Florence, but passed many years of his life in 

Alighieri, exile. Dante’s most famous work, the Divine 

1265-1321 Comedy , describes an imaginary visit to the other 

world. Virgil guides him through the realms of 
Hell and Purgatory until he meets his lady Beatrice, who 
conducts him through Paradise. The Divine Comedy gives 
in artistic verse an epitome of all that medieval men knew 
and hoped and felt: it is a mirror of the Middle Ages. At 
the same time it drew much of its inspiration from Graeco- 
Roman sources. Athens, for Dante, is the “hearth from 
which all knowledge glows”; Homer is the “loftiest of 



























594 


The Renaissance 


poets’’; and Aristotle is the “master of those who know.” 
This feeling for classical antiquity entitles Dante to rank 
in some respects as. a forerunner of the Renaissance. 

Dante exerted a noteworthy influence on the Italian lan- 
Dante and guage. He wrote the Divine Comedy , not in 
the Italian Latin, but in the vernacular Italian as spoken in 

Florence. The popularity of this work helped to 
give currency to the Florentine dialect, and in time it became 
the literary language of Italy. 

Petrarch, a younger contemporary of Dante, and like him 
a native of Florence, has been called the first modern scholar 
and man of letters. He devoted him¬ 
self with tireless energy to classical 
Petrarch studies, composing many 

( 521 ) Latin works and traveling 

widely in Italy and other countries in 
the search for ancient manuscripts. 
When he found in one place two lost 
orations of Cicero and in another place 
a collection of Cicero’s letters, he was 
transported with delight. He kept 
copyists in his house, at times as many 
as four, busily making transcripts of 
the manuscripts that he had discovered 
or borrowed. ‘‘ My tireless spirit pores 
over the pages,” he writes, “until it 
has exhausted both fingers and eyes, 
and yet I feel neither hunger nor cold but seem to be reclin¬ 
ing on the softest down. I labor while I rest and find my 
rest in labor.” Petrarch knew almost no Greek. His copy 
of Homer, it is said, he often kissed, though he could not 
read it. 

Petrarch’s friend and disciple, Boccaccio, was the first to 
bring to Italy manuscripts of the Iliad and the Odyssey . 

Having learned some Greek, he wrote out a trans- 

Boccaccio ^ 

lation of those epic poems. Boccaccio’s fame is 
based, however, on the Decameron. It is a collection of one 



Petrarch 

After a miniature in the Lau- 
rentian Library, Florence. 


595 


Revival of Learning in Italy 

hundred stories written in Italian. They are supposed to be 
told by a merry company of men and women, who, during a 
plague at Florence, have retired to a villa in the country. 
The Decameron was one of the first important works in 
Italian prose. Many English writers, notably Chaucer in 
his Canterbury Tales , have gone to it for ideas and plots. 

The renewed interest in Latin literature, due to Petrarch, 
Boccaccio, and others, was followed in the fifteenth century 
by the revival of Greek literature. In 1396 studyof 
Chrysoloras, a scholar from Constantinople, be- Greek in 
gan to lecture on Greek in the University of Italy (522) 
Florence. He afterward taught in other Italian cities and 
further aided the growth of classical studies by preparing a 
Greek grammar — the first book of its kind. From this 
time, and especially after the fall of Constantinople (§ 164), 
many learned Greeks came to Italy, transplanting in the 
West the culture of the East. “Greece had not perished, 
but had emigrated to Italy.” 

The classics opened up a new world of thought and fancy to 
scholars. They were delighted by the fresh, original, and 
liberal ideas which they discovered in the pages Humanism 
of Homer, Plato, Cicero, Horace, and other 
ancient writers. Their new enthusiasm for the classics was 
known as humanism, a synonym for literary culture. The 
Greek and Latin languages and literatures came to be 
regarded as the “humanities” and displaced the old scho¬ 
lastic philosophy (§ 188) as the chief subject of instruction 
in universities. From the universities the study of the 
“humanities” descended to the lower schools. 

It cannot be said that the influence of humanism on educa¬ 
tion was wholly good. In their enthusiasm for the “hu¬ 
manities” teachers neglected the great world of a “ classical 
nature and human life which lay outside the education” 
writings of the ancients. This bookishness formed a real 
defect in Renaissance education, not only in Italy but also 
in other European countries which looked to Italy for cul¬ 
tural inspiration. 


596 


The Renaissance 


Humanism spread from Florence throughout the Italian 
peninsula. At Milan and Venice, at Rome and Naples, 
Spread of students began to pore over the classics. A special 
humanism in feature of the age was the recovery of ancient 
Italy (523) manuscripts from monasteries and cathedrals, 
where they had often lain neglected and blackened with the 
dust of ages. Libraries were established for their safe-keep¬ 
ing, professorships of the ancient languages were endowed, 
and scholars were given opportunities to pursue researches. 
Even|the popes shared in this zeal for humanism. One of 
them founded the Vatican Library at Rome, which has the 
most valuable collection of manuscripts in the world. At 
Florence the wealthy family of the Medici vied with the 
popes in the patronage of the new learning. 

194. Paper and Printing 

The revival of learning was greatly stimulated when 
printed books took the place of manuscripts laboriously 
introduction copied by hand. The Chinese at a remote period 
of paper made paper from some fibrous material. The 
Arabs seem to have been the first to make it out of flax and 
rags. The manufacture of paper in Europe was established 
by the Moors in Spain. The Arab occupation of Sicily intro¬ 
duced the art into Italy. Paper found a ready sale in Europe, 
because papyrus and parchment, which the ancients had 
used as writing materials, were both expensive and heavy. 
Men now had a material moderate in price, durable, and 
one that would easily receive the impression of movable type. 

The first step in the development of printing was the use of 
engraved blocks. Single letters, separate words, and some- 
Deveiopment ti mes entire pages of text were cut in hard wood 
of movable or copper. When inked and applied to writing 
type material, they left a clear impression. The sec¬ 

ond step was to cast the letters in separate pieces of metal, all 
of the same height and thickness. These could then be ar¬ 
ranged in any desired way for printing. 


597 


Paper and Printing 

The Chinese were the first to print books by using movable 
type. The art was found in Europe by the middle of the 
fifteenth century. Who invented it there is not The printing 
known with certainty, but a German printer, P ress 
Johann Gutenberg of Mainz, seems to have been the first 
to print on any considerable scale. The oldest large printed 
book which came from his press was a Latin Bible, issued 
probably in 1454. A copy 
of this work is one of the 
treasures of the Library of 
Congress at Washington. 

In 1476 the English printer, 

William Caxton, set up his 
wooden presses within the 
precincts of Westminster 
Abbey. We owe to him edi¬ 
tions of Chaucer’s poems, 

Malory’s Morte d'Arthur 
(§ 185), JEsop’s Fables , and 
many other works. 

Of the seven or eight mil¬ 
lion volumes which ap¬ 
peared before Kinds of 
1500, about ^ 
thirty thousand are be- An Early Printing Press 
lieved to be still in ex- Enlarged from the printer’s mark of I. B. 
istence ]\4anv of these Ascensius. Used on the title pages of books 
* y . printed by him, 1507-1535. 

earliest books were printed 

in heavy, “black-letter” type, an imitation of the characters 
used in monkish manuscripts. It is still kept for most books 
printed in Germany. The clearer and neater “Roman” 
characters, resembling the letters employed for ancient Ro¬ 
man inscriptions, came into use in southern Europe and Eng¬ 
land. Aldus Manutius, a Venetian printer, devised “italic” 
type, to enable the publisher to crowd more words on a 
page. He has also the credit for the introduction of punctu¬ 
ation marks. In ancient writings words were run together 































598 The Renaissance 

successively, without any indication of pause or break in the 
sentence. 

Printed books could be multiplied far more rapidly than 
manuscripts copied by hand. They could also be far more 
Significance accurate than manuscripts, for, when an entire 
of printing edition was printed from the same type, mistakes 
in the different copies were eliminated. Furthermore, the 
invention of printing destroyed the monopoly of learning 
possessed by the universities and people of wealth. Books 
were now the possession of the many, not the luxury of the 
few. Any one who could read had opened to him the gate¬ 
way of knowledge; he became a citizen, henceforth, of the 
republic of letters. Printing, which made possible popular 
education, public libraries, and ultimately cheap newspapers, 
thus became a force emancipating mankind from bondage to 
ignorance. 

195. Revival of Art in Italy 

Gothic architecture, with its pointed arches, flying but¬ 
tresses, and traceried windows, never struck deep roots in 
Italy. The architects of the Renaissance went 
Architecture ^ c k to Greek temples and Roman domed build¬ 
ings for their models, just as the humanists went back to 
Greek and Latin literature. Long rows of Ionic or Corinthian 
columns, spanned by round arches, became again the pre¬ 
vailing architectural style. Perhaps the most important 
accomplishment of Renaissance builders was the adoption 
of the dome, instead of the vault, for the roofs of churches. 
The majestic cupola of St. Peter’s at Rome has become the 
parent of many domed structures in the Old and New World. 
Architects, however, did not limit themselves to churches. 
The magnificent palaces of Florence, as well as some of those 
in Venice, are among the monuments of the Renaissance era. 

The development of architecture naturally stimulated the 
other arts. Italian sculptors began to copy the 
ancient bas-reliefs and statues preserved in Rome 
and other cities. At this time glazed terra cotta came to be 


599 


Revival of Art in Italy 

used by sculptors. Another Renaissance art was the casting 
of bronze doors, with panels which represented scenes from 
the Bible. 

The greatest of Renaissance sculptors was Michelangelo. 
Though a Florentine by birth, he lived for most of his life in 
Rome. A statue of David, who looks like a Greek Michelangelo, 
athlete, and another of Moses, seated and holding 1*75-1564 
the tablets of the Ten Commandments, are among his best- 
known works. Michelangelo also won fame in architecture 
and painting. The dome of St. Peter’s was finished after his 
designs. Having been commissioned by one of the popes to 
decorate the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, he 
painted a series of scenes which presented the Biblical story 
from the Creation to the Flood. These frescoes are unequaled 
for sublimity and power. Michelangelo also painted in the 
same chapel his great fresco of the “Last Judgment.” 

Italian painting began in the service of the Church and al¬ 
ways remained religious in character. Artists usually chose 
subjects from the Bible or the lives of the saints. „ . . 

They did not trouble themselves to secure cor¬ 
rectness of costume, but represented ancient Jews, Greeks, 
and Romans in the garb of Italian gentlemen. Many of 
their pictures were frescoes, that is, the colors were mixed 
with water and applied to the plaster walls of churches and 
palaces. After the process of mixing oils with the colors 
was discovered, pictures on wood or canvas (easel paintings) 
became common. Renaissance painters excelled in portrai¬ 
ture. They were less successful with landscapes. 

Among the “old masters” of Italian painting, four, besides 
Michelangelo, stand out with special prominence. Leonardo 
da Vinci was architect, sculptor, musician, and The “ old 
engineer, as well as painter. His finest work, the masters ” 
“Last Supper,” a fresco painting at Milan, is much damaged, 
but fortunately good copies of it exist. Paris has the best 
of his easel pictures — the “Mona Lisa.” Leonardo’s con¬ 
temporary, Raphael, died before he was forty, but not before 
he had produced the “Sistine Madonna,” now at Dresden; 


The Renaissance 


600 

the “Transfiguration/’ in the Vatican Gallery at Rome; and 
many other famous compositions. Another artist, the Vene¬ 
tian Titian, painted portraits unsurpassed for glowing color. 
Lastly must be mentioned the exquisite paintings of Cor¬ 
reggio. All these “old masters” were contemporaries of 
Michelangelo. 


196. Revival of Learning and Art beyond Italy 



Italy had led the way by recovering the long-buried treas¬ 
ures of the classics and by providing means for their study. 

Scholars in Germany, France, 
and England, who now had the 

Spread of aid ° f the P rintin g 

humanism in press, continued 
Europe the intellectual 
movement and gave it wide¬ 
spread currency. 

The foremost humanist of 
the age was Desiderius Eras- 

Desiderius mus - Though a na- 
Erasmus, tive of Rotterdam 
1466 (?)—1536 * n pjoiiajK^ he lived 

for a time in Germany, France, 
England, and Italy, and died 
at Basel in Switzerland. His 
travels and extensive corre¬ 
spondence brought him in con¬ 
tact with most of the leading 
scholars of the day. Erasmus 
wrote in Latin many works 
which were read and enjoyed by educated men. He might 
be called the first really popular author in Europe. Like 
Petrarch, he did much to encourage the humanistic move¬ 
ment by precept and example. “When I have money,” said 
this devotee of the classics, “I will first buy Greek books 
and then clothes.” 


Erasmus 

Louvre, Paris 

A portrait by the German artist, Hans 
Holbein the Younger. Probably an excel¬ 
lent likeness of Erasmus. 








The Renaissance in Science 


601 


The most important achievement of Erasmus was an 
edition of the New Testament in the original Greek, with a 
Latin version. Up to this time students had Greek Testa _ 
been obliged to rely on the Latin translation of ment of 
the Bible known as the Vulgate, which had been Erasmus (526) 
made in the fourth century. The work of Erasmus led to a 
better understanding of the New Testament and also pre¬ 
pared the way for translations of the Scriptures into the 
modern European languages. “ I long that the husbandman 
should sing portions of them to himself as he follows the 
plough,” wrote Erasmus, “that the weaver should hum 
them to the tune of his shuttle, and that the traveler should 
beguile with their stories the weariness of his journey.” 

Italian architects found a cordial reception in France, 
Spain, the Netherlands, and other countries, where they 
introduced Renaissance styles of building and The artistic 
ornamentation. The celebrated palace of the revival in 
Louvre in Paris, which is used to-day as an art Europe 
gallery and museum, dates from the sixteenth century. The 
French nobles now began to replace their uncomfortable 
castles with elegant country houses. 1 Renaissance sculpture 
also spread beyond Italy throughout Europe. Painters in 
European countries at first followed Italian models, but 
afterward produced masterpieces of their own. 

197. The Renaissance in Science 

The Middle Ages were not by any means ignorant of 
science (§ 189), but its.study naturally received a great im¬ 
petus when the Renaissance brought before edu- Humanism 
cated men all that the Greeks had done in mathe- and science 
matics, physics, astronomy, medicine, and other subjects 
(§ 63). The invention of printing also fostered the scientific 
revival by making it easy to spread knowledge abroad in 
every land. The pioneers of Renaissance science were 
Italians, but students in France, England, Germany, and 
1 See the plate facing page 604. 


602 The Renaissance 

other countries soon took up the work of intellectual en¬ 
lightenment. 

The first place among them must be given to Copernicus, 
the founder of modern astronomy. He was a Pole, but he 
Copernicus, lived many years in Italy. Patient study and 
1473-1543 ’ calculation led him to the conclusion that the 
earth turns upon its own axis, and, together with 
the other planets, revolves around the sun. The Copernican 
theory met much opposition, not only in the universities, 
which clung to the time-honored “Ptolemaic System” 
(§ 63), but also among theologians, who thought that it 
contradicted statements in the Bible. Moreover, people 
could not easily reconcile themselves to the idea that the 
earth, instead of being the center of the universe, is only 
one member of the solar system; that it is, in fact, only one 
of innumerable worlds. 

An Italian scientist, Galileo, made one of the first tele¬ 
scopes — it was about as powerful as an opera glass — and 
Galileo, 1564 - turned it on the heavenly bodies with wonderful 
1642 ( 528 ) results. He found the sun moving unmistakably 
on its axis, Venus showing phases according to her position 
in relation to the sun, Jupiter accompanied by revolving 
moons, or satellites, and the Milky Way composed of a 
multitude of separate stars. Galileo rightly believed that 
these discoveries confirmed the theory of Copernicus. 

Another man of genius, the German Kepler, worked out 
the mathematical laws which govern the movements of the 
Kepler planets. He made it clear that the planets re¬ 
volve around the sun in elliptical instead of cir¬ 
cular orbits. Kepler’s investigations afterward led to the 
discovery by the Englishman, Sir Isaac Newton, of the so- 
called “law of gravitation.” 

Two other scientists gained fame in a field far removed 
from astronomy. Vesalius, a Fleming, who studied in Italian 
Vesalius and medical schools, gave to the world the first careful 
Harvey description of the human body based on actual 
dissection. He was thus the founder of human anatomy. 


The Renaissance in Science 


603 


Harvey, an Englishman, after observing living animals, an¬ 
nounced the discovery of the circulation of the blood. He 
thereby founded human physiology. 

Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Vesalius, Harvey, and their 
fellow workers built up the scientific method. Students in 
the Middle Ages had mostly been satisfied to accept what 
Aristotle and other philosophers 
had said, without examining the 
basis of their state- The scientific 
ments (§ 188). Kep- method 
ler, for instance, was the first 
to disprove the Aristotelian idea 
that, as all perfect motion is cir¬ 
cular, therefore the heavenly 
bodies must move in circular or¬ 
bits. Similarly, the world had to 
wait many centuries before Har¬ 
vey showed Aristotle’s error in 
supposing that the blood. arose 
in the liver, went thence to the 
heart, and by the veins was con¬ 
ducted over the body. The new 
scientific method rested on ob¬ 
servation and experiment. Stu¬ 
dents learned at length to take 
nothing for granted, to set aside 
all authority, and to go straight 
to nature for their facts. As Sir 
Francis Bacon, one of Shake¬ 
speare’s contemporaries and a 
severe critic of the old scholas¬ 
ticism, declared, “All depends on keeping the eye steadily 
fixed upon the facts of nature, and so receiving their images 
as they are, for God forbid that we should give out a dream 
of our own imagination for a pattern of the world.” Modern 
science, to which we owe so much, is thus a product of the 
Renaissance. 



Galileo’s Telescopes 

Preserved in the Museum of Ancient 
Instruments, Florence. A broken ob¬ 
ject-glass, with which Jupiter’s satellites 
were discovered, is mounted in the 
center of the ivory frame. 


604 


The Renaissance 


198. The Renaissance in Literature 

The renewed interest in classical studies for a time retarded 
the development of national literatures in Europe. Scholars 
devoted themselves to the “classics” and looked 
vernacular down with some contempt upon books written m 
revival t h e vernacular languages. The common people, 

however, did not understand Greek and Latin. Yet they 
were now beginning to read, and they had the printing press 
to supply them with cheap books. It was not long, therefore, 
before many works composed in Italian, Spanish, French, 
English, and other languages made an appearance. Hence¬ 
forth literature could be more creative and original than was 
possible when authors merely imitated or translated those 
of antiquity. The models provided by Greece and Rome 
still continued, however, to furnish inspiration to men of 
letters. 

The Florentine historian and diplomat, Machiavelli, by his 
book, The Prince , did much to found the modern science of 
politics. Machiavelli, as a patriotic Italian, felt 
Machia/eih muc ] 1 distress at the divided condition of Italy, 
where numerous petty states were constantly at war. In 
The Prince he tried to show how a strong, despotic ruler 
might set up a national state in the peninsula. He thought 
that such a ruler ought not to be bound by the ordinary 
rules of morality. He must often act “against faith, against 
charity, against humanity, and against religion.” The end 
would justify the means. Success was everything; morality, 
nothing. This dangerous doctrine has received the name of 
“ Machiavellism. ” 

Spain during the sixteenth century gave to the world in 
Cervantes the only Spanish writer who has achieved a great 
Cervantes reputation outside his own country. Cervantes’s 
masterpiece, Don Quixote, seems to have been 
intended as a burlesque upon the romances of chivalry once 
so popular in Europe. The hero, Don Quixote, attended by 
his shrewd and faithful squire, Sancho Panza, rides forth 


The old French province of Touraine is celebrated for its beautiful country houses of the nobility. Perhaps the most beautiful of these is Chenonceaux, 
which was constructed in the sixteenth century. Catherine de’ Medici, queen of France, built the gallery over the river Cher. 






























DANTE SHAKESPEARE 

After the death mast. From the copper-plate engraved by Martin Droeshout for the 

First Folio edition of Shakespeare’s works in 1623. 







The Renaissance in Literature 


605 


to perform deeds of knight-errantry, but meets, instead, 
the most absurd adventures. The work is a vivid picture of 
Spanish life. Nobles, priests, monks, traders, farmers, inn¬ 
keepers, muleteers, barbers, beggars — all these pass before 
our eyes as in a panorama. Don 
Quixote immediately became 
popular, and it is even more 
read to-day than it was three 
centuries ago. 

The Flemish author, Frois¬ 
sart, deserves notice as a his¬ 
torian and as one of the 
founders of French prose. 

His Chronicles present an 
account of the fourteenth 
century, when the age of 
feudalism was fast draw¬ 
ing to an end. He admired 
chivalry and painted it in glow¬ 
ing colors. He liked „ . 

° , ... Froissart 

to describe tourna¬ 
ments, battles, sieges, and feats 
of arms. Kings and nobles, 
knights and squires, are the Geoffrey Chaucer 

aCtOrS On his Stage. Froissart After an old manuscript in the British 

traveled in many countries and ^ ^ exiSting 

obtained a good deal of his in¬ 
formation at first hand from those who had made history. 

A very different sort of writer was the Frenchman, Mon¬ 
taigne. He lives to-day as the author of one hundred and 
seven essays, very delightful in style and full of Montaigne 
wit and wisdom. Montaigne popularized the 
essay, a form of literature in which he has had numerous 
imitators. 

Geoffrey Chaucer, who has been called the “morning 
star” of the English Renaissance, was a story-teller in verse. 
His Canterbury Tales are supposed to be told by a company 
























606 


The Renaissance 


of pilgrims, as they journey from London to the shrine of 
Thomas Becket at Canterbury. Chaucer describes freshly 
Chaucer and with unfailing good spirits the life of the 
1340 (?-) middle and upper classes. He does not reveal, 
1400 any more than his contemporary Froissart, the 

labor and sorrows of the downtrodden peasantry. Chaucer 



The Globe Theater, London 

After an engraving of the early seventeenth century. Shakespeare’s plays were 
performed in this theater, which stood on the south bank of the Thames. 


was a true poet, however, and his name stands high in Eng¬ 
land’s long roll of men of letters. 

This survey of the national authors of the Renaissance may 
fitly close with William Shakespeare, whose genius passed 
Shakespeare, beyond national boundaries and made him a citi- 
1564-1616 zen 0 f a p the WO rld. His life is known to us only 
in barest outline. Born at Stratford-on-Avon, he attended 
the village grammar school, where he learned “small Latin 
and less Greek,” went to London as a youth, and became 
an actor and a playwright. He prospered, made money from 













The Renaissance in Literature 


607 


both his acting and the sale of his plays, and at the age of 
forty-four retired to Stratford for the rest of his life. Here 
he died eight years later, and here his grave may still be 
seen in the village church. During his residence in London 
he wrote, in whole or in part, thirty-six or thirty-seven 
dramas, both tragedies and comedies. They were not col¬ 
lected and published until several years after his death. 
Shakespeare’s plays were read and praised by his contem¬ 
poraries, but it has remained for modern men to see in him 



Shakespeare’s Signature 

There are only six known examples of Shakespeare’s signature of undisputed authenticity. 

one who ranks as perhaps the greatest of the great poets of 
the world. 

Renaissance poets and prose writers revealed themselves 
in their books. This personal note affords a sharp contrast to 
the anonymity of the Middle Ages. We do not personality in 
know the authors of the Song of Roland , the Renaissance 
Nibelungenlied , and Reynard the Fox , any more 1 era ure 
than we know the builders of the Gothic cathedrals. Medi¬ 
eval literature subordinated the individual; that of the 
Renaissance expressed the sense of individuality and man’s 
interest in himself. It was truly “humanistic.” 


For Explanation 


Renaissance 
Revival of Learning 
Dante 

Divine Comedy 

Petrarch 

Boccaccio 

humanism 

humanities 

Vatican Library 


Medici 

Gutenberg 

Michelangelo 

Leonardo da Vinci 

Raphael 

Titian 

Erasmus 

Vulgate 

Copernicus 


Galileo 

Kepler 

Vesalius 

Harvey 


Machiavelli 

Cervantes 


Froissart 

Chaucer 


Canterbury Tales 


608 


The Renaissance 


For Discussion 

1. “Next to the discovery of the New World, the recovery of the ancient 
world is the second landmark that divides us from the Middle Ages 
and marks the transition to modem life.” Comment on this statement. 

2. Why did the Renaissance begin as “an Italian event”? 

3. “City-states have always proved favorable to culture.” Illustrate 
this remark. 

4. Why was the revival of Greek more important in the history of civili¬ 
zation than the revival of Latin? 

5. Why has Renaissance Florence been called the “Athens of Italy”? 

6. Why did the classical scholar come to be regarded as the only edu¬ 
cated man? 

7. Show that printing was an “emancipating force.” 

8. Did the medieval interest in astrology retard or further astronomical 
research? 

9. How did the discoveries of Galileo and Kepler confirm the Copernican 
theory? 

10. Why has Froissart been styled the “French Herodotus”? 

11. How many of Shakespeare’s plays can you name? How many have 
you read? 

For Further Study 

1. Prepare a chronological chart showing the leading men of letters, 
artists, and scientists mentioned in this chapter. 

2. Write an imaginary dialogue between Leonardo da Vinci and some 
friends, bringing in the different kinds of work which interested him. 

3. Make a list of paintings by the Italian “old masters” that you have 
seen (either originals or reproductions). Which one is your favorite? 
Why? 

4. Deliver an oral report upon the characters in Chaucer’s Canterbury 
Tales (see the “Prologue”). 

Supplementary 

Webster, Readings in Early European History, chapter xlii, “A Scholar of 
the Renaissance”; chapter xliii, “Renaissance Artists.” 


CHAPTER XXVI 


GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY AND COLONIZATION 

From earliest recorded time the history of civilization has been the 
history of the Mediterranean area, and such it remained until the dis¬ 
coveries of the great navigators at the close of the fifteenth century bore 
fruit in the Oceanic civilization amidst which we live to-day. The voyages 
of Diaz, Da Gama, and Columbus did more than disclose new markets and 
fields for empire in the Indies and the New World. They changed the 
center of gravity of human culture. 

— W. G. de Burgh 

199. Renewal of Exploration 

The Greeks and Romans had been familiar with a large 
part of Europe and Asia, but much of their learning was either 
forgotten or perverted during the early Middle Medieval 
Ages. Even the wonderful discoveries of the ignorance of 
Northmen in the North Atlantic gradually faded g > °|J :aphy 
from memory. The Arabs, whose conquests and 
commerce extended over so much of the Orient, far sur¬ 
passed the Christian peoples of Europe in knowledge of the 
world. 

The mixture of medieval geography with theology had 
some curious results. Map makers, relying on a passage in 
the Old Testament, usually placed Jerusalem in Geographical 
the center of the world. A Scriptural reference myths 
to the “four corners of the earth” was sometimes thought to 
imply the existence of a rectangular world. From classical 
sources came stories of monstrous men, one-eyed, headless, 
or dog-headed, who were supposed to inhabit remote regions. 
Equally monstrous animals, such as the unicorn and dragon, 
kept them company. Sailors’ “yarns” must have been re¬ 
sponsible for the belief that the ocean boiled at the equator 

609 


610 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

and that in the Atlantic — the “Sea of Darkness’’ lurked 
serpents huge enough to sink ships. To the real dangers of 
travel by land and water people thus added imaginary terrors. 

The Crusades, which were 
followed by pilgrimages and 
Legend of missions in Ori- 
Prester John en tal lands, 

helped to increase geo¬ 
graphical knowledge. With 
the pilgrims and mission¬ 
aries went numerous mer¬ 
chants, who brought back 
to Europe the wealth of 
the East. What specially 
drew explorers eastward 
was the belief that some¬ 
where in Asia existed a great Christian kingdom which, if 
allied to European Christendom, might attack the Moslems 
from the rear. According to one form of the story, the king¬ 
dom consisted of the Ten Tribes of Israel (§ 16), who had 
been converted to Christianity. Over them reigned a priest- 
king named Prester (or Presbyter) John. The popes made 
several attempts to communicate with this mythical ruler 
and sent Franciscan friars to find him in the heart of Asia. 
The friars returned to Europe with marvelous tales of the 
wealth and splendor of the Far East under the Mongol em¬ 
perors. 

The most famous of all medieval travelers were Nicolo and 
Maffeo Polo, and Nicolo’s son, Marco. These Venetian mer- 
The Polos in chants made an adventurous j ourney to the court 
the East, Of the Mongol ruler, Kublai Khan, at Cambaluc 

1271-1295 ( later called Peking and now Peiping). Kublai, 
who seems to have been anxious to introduce Christianity 
and European culture among his people, received them in a 
friendly manner, and they gained much wealth by trade. 
Marco entered the khan’s service and went on several expedi¬ 
tions to distant parts of the Mongol realm. The Polos only 



Geographical Monsters 

From an early edition of Sir John Mandeville’s 
Travels. Shakespeare ( Othello, I, iii, 144-145) re¬ 
fers to 

“ The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads 
Do grow beneath their shoulders.” 




The World According to Cosmas Indicopleustes, 535 



Geographical Knowledge during the Middle Ages 

The Cosmas map exhibits the earth as a rectangle, surrounded by an ocean with four deep 
gulfs. The rivers flowing from the lakes of Paradise are also shown. The Hereford map 
exhibits the earth as a circular disk, with the ocean surrounding it. Paradise lies on the 
extreme east; Jerusalem occupies the center; and below it comes the Mediterranean. 




























































612 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

returned to Venice after an absence of twenty-four years. 
Their travels are traced on the map. 1 

The story of the Polos, as written down at Marco’s dicta¬ 
tion, became one of the most popular works of the Middle 
Marco Ages. Europe read in this book of far Cathay 
Polo’s book (China), with its wealth, huge cities, and swarm¬ 
ing population; of mysterious and secluded Tibet; of Burma, 
Siam, and Cochin-China, with their palaces and pagodas; 
of the East Indies, famed for spices; of Ceylon, abounding 
in pearls; and of India, little known since the days of Alex¬ 
ander the Great. Cipango (Japan) Marco described from 
hearsay as an island whose civilized inhabitants were so 
rich in gold that the royal palace was roofed and paved with 
that metal. The accounts of these countries naturally made 
Europeans more eager than ever to reach the distant East. 

The new knowledge gained by European peoples about 
the land routes of Asia was accompanied by much progress 
Aids to in the art of ocean navigation. The invention 
exploration Q f the mariner’s compass has been already re¬ 
ferred to (§ 189). The astrolabe was employed to calculate 
latitudes by observation of the height of the sun above the 
horizon. A rude form of the log was used as a means of 
estimating the speed of a vessel, and so of finding roughly 
the longitude. The charting of coasts became more and more 
accurate. Manuals were prepared to give information about 
the tides, currents, and other features of sea routes. The 
increase in size of ships made navigation safer and permitted 
the storage of bulky cargoes. For long voyages the sailing 
vessel replaced the medieval galley rowed by oars. Navi¬ 
gators no longer found it necessary to keep close to the shore, 
but could push out into the open sea. 

The needs of commerce largely account for early exploring 
voyages. Eastern spices — cinnamon, pepper, cloves, nut¬ 
meg, and ginger — were used very freely in medieval times, 
because people lived so largely on salt meat during the win¬ 
ter and salt fish during Lent. When John Ball (§ 136) 

1 See the map, page 493. 


To the Indies Eastward 


613 


wished to contrast the easy life of the lords with the peas¬ 
ants’ hard lot, he said, “They have wine, spices, and fine 
bread, while we have only rye and the refuse of commercial 
the straw.” Precious stones, drugs, perfumes, motive for 
gums, dyes, and fragrant woods also came from exploratlon 
the East. Since the time of the Crusades these luxuries, 
after having been brought overland to Mediterranean ports, 
had been distributed by water by Italian and German 
merchants throughout Europe (§179). Two other European 
peoples — the Portuguese and Spaniards — now appeared as 
competitors for this profitable Oriental trade. The Mediter¬ 
ranean being closed to them by the naval power of the Ital¬ 
ian cities, they tried to find an all-water route to the Indies, 
either around Africa into the Indian Ocean or directly across 
the Atlantic. The Portuguese were the first in the field. 

200. To the Indies Eastward: Prince Henry 
and Da Gama 

The genius of Dom Henriques, more familiarly known as 
Prince Henry the Navigator, opened the way oceanwards 
for Portugal. The son of a Portuguese king, Prince 
he gave up a military career and for more than Henry the 
forty years devoted his wealth, learning, and Navigator 
enthusiasm to geographical discovery. Under his direction 
better maps were made, the compass was placed on vessels, 
and seamen were instructed in all the nautical knowledge of 
the time. Prince Henry then dispatched expedition after 
expedition southward to explore the African coast. 

The Portuguese began by rediscovering the Madeira 
Islands and the Azores, first visited by Europeans in the 
fourteenth century but afterward forgotten. Exploration of 
Then they turned southward along the uncharted the African 
African coast, toward waters which no keel had coast 
broken since the time of the Phoenicians (§ 22). Cape 
Bojador, the previous boundary of the unknown, was 
passed by one of Prince Henry’s captains in 1434. Eleven 


614 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

years later another sailor got as far as Cape Verde, or “Green 
Cape,” so called because of its luxuriant vegetation. Subse¬ 
quent voyages brought the Portuguese to Sierra Leone, 
then to the great bend in the African coast formed by the 
Gulf of Guinea, then across the equator, and at length to the 
mouth of the Congo. In 1487 Bartholomew Diaz rounded 
the southern extremity of Africa. The story goes that he 



Portuguese Exploration of the African Coast 


named it the Cape of Storms, and that the king of Portugal, 
recognizing its importance as a stage on the route to the Far 
East, rechristened it the Cape of Good Hope. 

Another Portuguese mariner, Vasco da Gama, reached 
India. He set sail from Lisbon with four tiny ships and after 
Da Gama’s leaving the Cape Verde Islands made a wide 
voyage, sweep into the South Atlantic. Five months 

1497-1499 passed before Africa was seen again. Da Gama 
doubled the Cape of Good Hope in safety, skirted the eastern 






























To the Indies Westward 


615 


shore of Africa, and at length secured the services of a 
Moslem pilot to guide him across the Indian Ocean. In 
1498 he reached Calicut, an important commercial city on 
the southwest coast of India. When Da Gama returned to 
Lisbon, after an absence of over two years, he brought back 
a cargo which repaid sixty times 
the cost of the expedition. The 
Portuguese king received him 
with high honor and created him 
Admiral of the Indies. 

The discovery of an ocean pas¬ 
sage to the East came at the 
right moment. The Signiflcance 
Ottoman Turks were of the man- 
just then beginning timeroute 
to block up the old trade routes 
(§ 179). Their conquests in Asia 
Minor and southeastern Europe, 
during the fifteenth century, 
shut out the Italians from the 
northern route through the 
Aegean and the Black Sea. After 
Syria and Egypt were conquered, 
early in the sixteenth century, 
the central and southern routes 
also passed under Turkish con¬ 
trol. The Ottoman advance struck a mortal blow at the 
prosperity of the Italian cities, which had so long monopo¬ 
lized Oriental trade. The misfortune of Venice and Genoa 
was the opportunity of Portugal. 

201. To the Indies Westward: Columbus and 
Magellan 

Six years before Vasco da Gama cast anchor in the harbor 
of Calicut, another intrepid sailor, seeking the Indies by a 
western route, accidentally discovered America. It does not 



Vasco da Gama 

After a manuscript in the British 
Museum. 





616 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

detract from the glory of Columbus to show that the way 
for his discovery had been long in preparation. In the first 
The globular place, the theory that the earth is round had 
theory been familiar to the Greeks and Romans, and 
to educated men even in the darkest period of the Middle 
Ages. The awakening of interest in Greek science, as a 
result of the Renaissance, called renewed attention to the 
statements by ancient geographers about the sphericity of 
the earth. 

In the second place, men had long believed that west of 
Europe, beyond the Strait of Gibraltar, lay mysterious lands. 

This notion first appears in the 
writings of the Greek philoso- 
Mythof pher, Plato, who 

Atlantis repeats an old tradi¬ 

tion concerning Atlantis. Ac¬ 
cording to Plato, Atlantis had 
been an island continental in 
size, but more than nine thou¬ 
sand years before his time it had 
sunk beneath the sea. Medieval 
writers accepted this account 
as true and found support for 
it in traditions of other western 
islands, such as the Isles of the 
Blest, where Greek heroes went 
after death, and the Welsh Ava¬ 
lon, whither King Arthur, after 
his last battle, was borne to heal 
his wounds. A popular legend 
of the Middle Ages also described 
the visit made by St. Brandan, 
an Irish monk, to the “promised land of the Saints,” an 
earthly paradise far out in the Atlantic. St. Brandan’s Is¬ 
land was marked on early maps, and voyages in search of it 
were sometimes undertaken. 

Columbus was a native of Genoa, where his father followed 


C ©L®MiVS LY<S©RBIST!£EP T©I^, 



Christopher Columbus 
B iblioteca Nacional, Madrid 
This is the so-called Yanez portrait, 
purchased in 1763 and named in honor 
of its former owner. It is the oldest 
canvas representation of Columbus 
known to exist in Spain. However, no 
one of the many portraits of Columbus 
that have come down to us is surely 
authentic. 


To the Indies Westward 617 

the humble trade of a weaver. He seems to have received 
some education in the schools of his native town, but at an 
early age he became a sailor. Columbus knew the Christopher 
Mediterranean by heart; he once went to the c °i umb us 
Guinea coast; and he may have visited Iceland. He settled 



The ideas of European geographers in the period just preceding the discovery of America 
are represented on a globe, which dates from 1492. It was made by a German navigator, 
Martin Behaim, for his native city of Nuremberg, where it is still preserved. Behaim 
shows the mythical island of St. Brandan, lying in mid'ocean, and beyond it Japan (Ci- 
pango), the East Indies, China (Cathay), and India. It is clear that he greatly under¬ 
estimated the distance westward between Europe and Asia. The outlines of North 
America and South America, here shown, do not appear on the Original globe. 

at Lisbon as a map maker and married a daughter of one of 
Prince Henry’s sea-captains. As Columbus pored over his 
maps and charts and talked with Portuguese navigators 






















618 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

about their voyages, the idea came to him that much of the 
world remained undiscovered and that the distant East 

could be reached by 
a shorter route than 
that which led around 
Africa. 

All know the story 
of the first voyage of 
Columbus. 
How he 
laid 'his 
plans before the king 
of Portugal, only to 
meet with rebuffs; 
how he then went to 
Spain and after many 
discouragements found 
a patron in Queen Isa¬ 
bella; how with three small ships he set out from Palos; 
how after leaving the Canaries he sailed week after week 
over an unknown sea; and how at last he sighted in the 
moonlight the glittering coral strand of one of the Bahama 
Islands. It was an outpost of the New World. 



The “Santa Maria,” Flagship 
of Columbus 

After the model reproduced for the Columbian Exposi- 
sition at Chicago, 1893. 


“Behind him lay the gray Azores, 

Behind the Gates of Hercules; 

Before him not the ghost of shores, 

Before him only shoreless seas. 

The good mate said: ‘Now must we pray, 

For lo! the very stars are gone. 

Brave Admiral, speak, what shall I say? ’ 

‘Why, say Sail on! sail on! and on!’” 

Columbus made three other Atlantic voyages, in the course 
of which he explored the Caribbean Sea, the mouth of the 
Later voyages Orinoco River, and the eastern coast of Central 
of Columbus America. No glimpse of the long-sought empire 
of the Great Khan rewarded his efforts, and he died with¬ 
out realizing that he had found, not Asia, but America. 




619 


To the Indies Westward 

Shortly after the return of Columbus from his first voyage, 
Pope Alexander VI, in response to a request by Ferdinand 
and Isabella, issued several bulls granting these The Demar _ 
sovereigns exclusive rights over the newly dis- cation Line, 
covered lands. In order that the Spanish posses- 1493 
sions should be clearly marked off from the Portuguese, the 
pope laid down an imaginary line of demarcation in the 
Atlantic, three hundred miles (later eleven hundred miles) 
west of the Azores and the Cape Verde Islands. 1 All new 
discoveries west of the line were to belong to Spain; all 
those east of it, to Portugal. This arrangement, which ex¬ 
cluded France, England, and other European countries from 
the New World, could not be long maintained. 

The Demarcation Line had a good deal to do in bringing 
about the first voyage around the globe. So far no one had 
realized the purpose of Columbus to reach the Ferdinand 
Indies by sailing westward. Ferdinand Magellan, Magellan 
a Portuguese navigator in the service of Spain, believed 
that the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, lay within the Spanish 
sphere of influence and that a route to them could be 
found through some strait at the southern end of South 
America. 

The Spanish ruler, Charles I (afterward the emperor 
Charles V), looked with favor upon Magellan’s ideas and 
provided a fleet of five vessels for the under- Circumnav . 
taking. After exploring the eastern coast of gatioToT™' 
South America, Magellan came at length to the 
strait which now bears his name. He sailed 
boldly through this strait into an ocean called by him the 
Pacific, because of its peaceful aspect. Magellan’s sailors 
begged him to return, for food was getting scarce, but the 
navigator replied that he would go on, “if he had to eat the 
leather off the rigging.” He did go on, for ninety-eight days, 
until he reached the Marianas Islands. In all this long 
voyage across the Pacific he came upon only two islands, 
both uninhabited. Magellan then proceeded to the Philip- 
1 See the map between pages 624-625. 


620 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

pines, where he was killed in a fight with the natives. His 
men managed to reach the Moluccas, the goal of the journey. 
A single ship, the Victoria , carried back to Spain the few sail¬ 
ors who had survived the hardships of a journey lasting nearly 
three years. 1 

Magellan’s voyage marks an epoch in geographical dis¬ 
covery. It proved that America, at least on the south, had no 
Results of the connection with Asia, and that the western sea- 
drcumnaviga- route to the Indies really existed. Furthermore, 
tion it revealed the enormous extent of the Pacific 

Ocean and led to the discovery of many large islands in the 
East Indies. Men now knew of a certainty that the earth 
is round, and in the distance covered by Magellan they had 
a rough approximation as to its size. The circumnavigation 
of the globe ranks with the discovery of the sea-routes to the 
Indies and to America among the most significant events of 
history. Magellan stands beside Da Gama and Columbus in 
the company of great explorers. 

202. The American Indians 

The natives of America, whom Columbus called Indians, 
resemble Mongoloid peoples in some physical features, such 
Physical as the re ddish brown complexion, the hair, uni- 
characteris- formly coarse and black, the high cheek-bones, 
tics and the short stature of many tribes. On the 

other hand, the large aquiline nose, the straight eyes, never 
oblique, and the tall stature of some tribes are not Mongoloid 
characteristics. It seems safe to conclude that the Indians, 
whatever their origin, became thoroughly fused into a com¬ 
posite race during long centuries of isolation from the rest of 
mankind. 

The Indians, because of their isolation, had to work out 
by themselves many arts, inventions, and discoveries. They 
spoke over a thousand languages and dialects, and not one 
has yet been traced outside of America. Their imple- 
i See the map between pages 624-625. 


The American Indians 


621 


ments consisted of polished stone, occasionally of unsmelted 
copper, and in Mexico and Peru, of bronze. The use of 
iron was unknown to them. They cultivated Indian com, 
or maize, but lacked the other 
great cereals. They domes¬ 
ticated the dog, T .. 

, Indian culture 

the llama, and the 
alpaca, but no other animals. 

They usually lived in clans 
and tribes, ruled by headmen 
or chiefs. Their religion prob¬ 
ably did not involve a belief 
in a “Great Spirit,” as is so 
often said, but rather recog¬ 
nized in all nature the abode 
of spiritual powers, mysteri¬ 
ous and wonderful, whom man 
ought to conciliate by prayers 
and sacrifices. Most of the 
American Indians were not 
savages, but barbarians fairly 
well advanced in culture. 

Indian culture reached its 
highest development in Mex¬ 
ico and Central 
America, espe¬ 
cially among the Mayas of 
Yucatan, Guatemala, and 
Honduras. The remains of 
their cities — the Ninevehs 
and Baby Ions of the New 
World — lie buried in the 
tropical jungle, where Euro¬ 
peans first saw them, four hundred years ago. The temples, 
shrines, altars, and statues in these ancient cities show that 
the Mayas had made much progress in the fine arts. They 
knew enough astronomy to frame a solar calendar of three 



The Mayas 


A Maya Figurine 

Found in 1903 in the Mexican state of 
Vera Cruz and now in the U. S. National 
Museum at Washington. It is about 6 \ 
inches in height and 3| inches in diameter 
at the base. The upper part represents a 
human head. Part of the face is covered 
by a mask-like device, which extends down 
over the chest like a beard. The lower part 
of the stubby figure bears a general resem¬ 
blance to a bird, and the bird-form is 
furthfer emphasized by wings at the sides. 
This little idol doubtless represents a bird- 
man deity. It is covered with Maya glyphs. 
These embody the earliest date yet de¬ 
termined in America, a date which corre¬ 
sponds to 100 B.C. 



The Aztecs 


622 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

hundred and sixty-five days, and enough mathematics to 
employ numbers exceeding a million. The writing of the 
Mayas was at least occasionally phonetic. Pictures, which 
stood for objects or ideas, were being displaced by symbols 
for the sounds of words and syllables. When, if ever, their 
hieroglyphs have been completely deciphered, we shall learn 
much more about this gifted people. 

The so-called Aztecs were an Indian people who came down 
from the north and established themselves on the Mexican 
plateau. Here they formed a confederacy of 
many tribes ruled over by a sort of king, whose 
capital was Tenochtitlan, on the site of the present City of 
Mexico. The Aztecs seem to have borrowed much of their 

art, science, and 
knowledge of writ¬ 
ing from their Maya 
neighbors. They 
built houses and 
temples of stone or 
sun-dried brick, 
constructed aque¬ 
ducts, roads, and 
bridges, excelled in 
the dyeing, weav¬ 
ing, and spinning of cotton, and made beautiful ornaments 
of silver and gold. They worshiped many gods, to which 
the priests offered prisoners of war as human sacrifices. 

The lofty table-lands of the Andes were also the seat of an 
advanced Indian culture. The greater part of the territory 
now included in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and 
northern Chile came under the sway of the Incas, 
the “children of the sun,” as they called themselves. The 
Inca power centered in the Peruvian city of Cuzco, and on 
the shores of Lake Titicaca, which lies twelve thousand feet 
above sea-level. In this region of magnificent scenery the 
traveler views with astonishment the ruins of deserted cities, 
which were built either by the Incas or by the Indians whom 



Aztec Sacrificial Knife 

British Museum, London 

Length, twelve inches. The blade is of yellow, opales¬ 
cent chalcedony, beautifully chipped and polished. The 
handle is of light-colored wood carved in the form of a man 
masked with a bird skin. Brilliant mosaic settings of tur¬ 
quoise, malachite, and shell embellish the figure. 


The Incas 


Colonial Empires 623 

they conquered and displaced. The Incas displayed great 
skill in the manual arts; they were expert goldsmiths, silver¬ 
smiths, and potters; while as cultivators and engineers they 
surpassed their European conquerors. 

203. Colonial Empires 

The Portuguese, after Da Gama’s voyage, made haste to 
secure the wealth of the Indies. By the middle of the 
sixteenth century they had built up a colonial p ortuguese 
empire in southern Asia and the adjacent islands, ascendancy 
Their possessions included many trading posts in in the East 
Africa; Ormuz at the entrance to the Persian Gulf; the 
western coast of India; Ceylon; Malacca at the end of the 
Malay peninsula; and various stations in the Malay Archi¬ 
pelago. They also established commercial intercourse with 
China and even with Japan. 

The Portuguese came to the Far East as the successors of 
the Arabs, who for centuries had conducted an extensive 
trade on the Indian Ocean. Having dispossessed PortU g Ue se 
the Arabs, the Portuguese took care to shut out trade mo- 
all European competitors. Only their own mer- nopoly 
chants were allowed to bring goods from the Indies to Europe 
by the Cape route. Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, was 
the chief depot for spices and other eastern commodities. 
The French, English, and Dutch came there to buy them and 
took the place of Italian merchants in distributing them 
throughout Europe. 

The colonial empire which the Portuguese formed in India 
and the East Indies collapsed during the seventeenth century 
before the attacks of the French, the English, and Portugal in 
the Dutch. Their colonial empire in Brazil lasted America 
until the nineteenth century, and their influence still endures 
there, in spite of the breaking of political ties. The language, 
literature, and customs of Brazil are those of Portugal. It is 
a marvelous thing that this little parent state, insignifi¬ 
cant in area, in natural resources, and in population, should 


624 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

have been transplanted, as it were, to the boundless spaces of 
the New World. 

The discoverers of the New World were naturally the pio¬ 
neers in its exploration. The adventures of Ponce de Leon, 
Spanish who discovered Florida in 1513; of Balboa, who 

ascendancy sighted the Pacific in the same year; of Cortes, 
m the west w k 0 overthrew the Aztec power in Mexico; of 
Pizarro, who conquered the Incas of Peru; of De Soto; and of 
Coronado are familiar to every reader of American history. 
These men laid the foundations of the Spanish colonial em¬ 
pire. It included Florida, New Mexico, California, Mexico, 
Central America, the West Indies, and all South America 
except Brazil. 

Spain governed her colonial dominions in the spirit of 
monopoly. As far as possible, she excluded French, English, 
Spanish trade and other foreigners from trading with Spanish 
monopoly America. She also discouraged shipbuilding, 
manufacturing, and even the cultivation of the vine and the 
olive, lest the colonists should compete with home industries. 
The colonies were regarded only as a workshop for the pro¬ 
duction of the precious metals and raw materials. This 
unwise policy partly accounts for the economic backwardness 
of Mexico, Peru, and other Spanish-American countries. 

The Spaniards brought few women with them and hence 
had to find their wives among the Indians. Intermarriage 
of the two peoples early became common. The 
riage^f F " result was the mixed race which one still finds 
Spaniards and throughout the greater part of Spanish America. 

The Indian strain predominates, because almost 
everywhere the natives were far more numerous than the 
white settlers. 

Many of the Indians were converted to Christianity. De¬ 
voted monks penetrated deep into the wilderness, bringing 
Conversion with them, not only the Christian religion, but 
of the also European civilization. The natives were 

Indians usually gathered into permanent villages, or 
“missions/’ each one with its church and school. Converts 






















































































































































The Old World and the New 


625 


who learned to read and write sometimes became priests or 
entered the monastic orders. The monks also took much 
interest in the material welfare of the Indians and taught 
them how to farm, how to build houses, and how to spin 
and weave and cook by better methods than their own. 

The civilizing work of Spain in the New World is sometimes 
forgotten. Here were the earliest American hospitals and 
asylums, for the use of Indians and Negroes as Spanish _ 
well as of Spaniards. Here were the first Ameri- American 
can schools and colleges. Twelve institutions culture 
of higher learning, all modeled upon the University of Sala¬ 
manca, arose in Spanish America during the colonial period. 
The fine arts also flourished in the Spanish colonies, and 
architects of the United States have now begun to copy the 
beautiful churches and public buildings of Mexico and Peru. 

The colonial empire of Spain on the American mainland 
lasted almost exactly three hundred years. During this time 
Spain gave her language, religion, law, political Spain in 
institutions, economic system, and intellectual Amenca 
life to half the New World. The Spanish colonial empire 
affords, therefore, a great historical example of the transmis¬ 
sion of culture imperially , somewhat as imperial Rome spread 
Roman civilization throughout western Europe. The work 
of Spain, like that of Rome, endures. It has left an abiding 
impress on the millions of Spanish-speaking people between 
the Rio Grande and the Strait of Magellan. 

204. The Old World and the New 

The New World contained two virgin continents, rich in 
natural resources and capable of extensive colonization. The 
native peoples, comparatively few in number and Expansion 
barbarian in culture, could not offer much resist- of Europe 
ance to the explorers, traders, and colonists from the Old 
World. The Portuguese and Spanish in the sixteenth cen¬ 
tury, followed by the Dutch, French, and English in the 
seventeenth century, brought European civilization to the 


626 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

New World. Europe expanded into a Greater Europe be¬ 
yond the ocean. 

In the Middle Ages the Mediterranean and the Baltic had 
been the principal highways of commerce. The discovery of 
shifting of America, followed immediately by the opening of 
trade routes the Cape route to the Indies, shifted commercial 
activity from these inclosed seas to the Atlantic Ocean. 
Venice, Genoa, Hamburg, Liibeck, and Bruges gradually 
gave way, as trading centers, to Lisbon and Cadiz, Bor- 



The World According to Ortelius ( 1570 ) 


Ortelius was a great Flemish geographer of the sixteenth century. He issued in 1570 
the first modem atlas, a collection of fifty-three maps of the world with an accompanying 
text in Latin. This work went through many editions. Ortelius shows a fairly accurate 
knowledge of the Old World, but his New World is very faulty in outline, and the supposed 
southern continent takes a prominent place on his map. Notice that both a Northeast 
Passage around Asia and a Northwest Passage around America are indicated. 

deaux and Cherbourg, Antwerp and Amsterdam, London 
and Liverpool. 

The discovery of America revealed to Europeans a new 
source of the precious metals. The Spaniards soon secured 
increased large quantities of gold by plundering the Indians 
production of of Mexico and Peru of their stored-up wealth. 
metais eCi ° US The output of silver much exceeded that of gold 
after 1545, when the Spaniards began to work the 
wonderfully rich silver mines of Potosi in Bolivia. It is 
estimated that by the end of the sixteenth century the 












The Old World and the New 


627 


American mines had produced at least three times as much 
gold and silver as had been current in Europe at the beginning 
of the century. 

The Spaniards could not keep this new treasure. Having 
few industries themselves, they were obliged to send it out, 
as fast as they received it, in payment for their 
imports of European goods. Spam acted as a oftheen- 
huge sieve through which the gold and silver of larged mone y 
America entered all the countries of Europe. supply 
Money, now more plentiful, purchased far less than in 
former times; in 
other words, the 
prices of all com¬ 
modities rose, wages 
advanced, and 
manufacturers and 
traders had addi¬ 
tional capital to use 
in their undertak¬ 
ings. The Middle 
Ages suffered from 
the lack of sufficient 
money with which 
to do business 
(§ 180); from the 
beginning of modern times the world has been better sup¬ 
plied with the indispensable medium of exchange. 

America was much more than a treasury of the precious 
metals. Many commodities, hitherto unknown, soon found 
their way from the New World to the Old. These New 
included maize, or Indian corn; the potato, which, commodities 
when cultivated in Europe, became the “bread of imported 
the poor”; chocolate and cocoa, made from the seeds of the 
cacao tree; Peruvian bark, or quinine, so useful in malarial 
fevers; tobacco; cochineal; the dye-woods of Brazil; and the 
mahogany of the West Indies. America also sent to Europe 
large supplies of cane-sugar, molasses, fish, whale-oil, and 



The Gold Mines of Potos! 

After a woodcut of 1555. 











628 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

furs. These new products became common articles of con¬ 
sumption and so raised the standard of living in European 
countries. 

The Atlantic Ocean formed, henceforth, not only the com¬ 
mercial, but also the political, center of the world. The At- 
Poiiticai lantic-facing countries, first Portugal and Spain, 

effects of the then Holland, France, and England, became the 
discoveries g reat p 0wers 0 f Europe. Their trade rivalries 
and contests for colonial possessions have been potent causes 
of European wars for the last four hundred years. 

The sixteenth century in Europe was the age of that revolt 
against the Roman Church called the Reformation. During 
Effects of the Period, however, the Church made her con- 
discoveries verts of the American Indians. What she lost 
upon religion wea i t h and influence in Europe was partially 
offset by what she gained in America. Furthermore, the 
region now occupied by the United States furnished in the 
seventeenth century an asylum from religious persecution, as 
was proved when Puritans settled in New England, Roman 
Catholics in Maryland, and Quakers in Pennsylvania. The 
vacant spaces of America offered plenty of room for all who 
would worship God in their own way. The New World 
became a refuge from the intolerance of the Old. 


For Explanation 


Prester John 

Atlantis 

Mayas 

Marco Polo 

St. Brandan’s Island 

Aztecs 

Kublai Khan 

Behaim 

Tenochtitlan 

Prince Henry the Navigator 

Cipango 

Incas 

Cape Verde 

Cathay 

Cuzco 

Diaz 

Demarcation Line 

Cortes 

Vasco da Gama 

Magellan 

Pizarro 

Calicut 

Marianas Islands 

Potosi 


For Discussion 

1. Why has Marco Polo been called the “Columbus of the East Indies”? 

2. “When fifteenth-century Portuguese and Spanish sailors ventured 
forth upon the ocean in their little caravels, they did not know that 


The Old World and the New 629 

they were changing the whole course of human history.” Comment 
on this statement. 

3. How did Vasco da Gama complete the work of Prince Henry the 
Navigator? 

4. “Meaning to enter the back door of the Old World, Columbus knocked 
at the front door of a New World.” Comment on this statement. 

5. “Had Columbus perished in mid-ocean, it is doubtful whether America 
would have remained long undiscovered.” Comment on this state¬ 
ment. 

6. Why did no one suggest that the New World be called after Columbus? 

7. Show that Magellan achieved what Columbus planned. 

8. How did Lisbon in the sixteenth century become the commercial 
successor of Venice? 

9. Why is Roman law followed in all Spanish-American countries? 

10. In what parts of the world is Spanish still the common language? 

11. Show that the three words “gospel, glory, gold” sum up the prin¬ 
cipal motives of European colonization in the sixteenth century. 

12. Compare the motives which led to the colonization of the New World 
with those which led to Greek colonization. 

13. “The opening of the Atlantic to continuous exploration is the most 
momentous step in the history of man’s occupation of the earth.” 
Does this statement seem to be justified? 

14. How is it true that the year 1492 inaugurated the Atlantic period of 
European history? 

For Further Study 

1. Write a brief biographical sketch of Prince Henry the Navigator* 
with special reference to his services in advancing geographical 
knowledge. 

2. Trace the oceanic routes followed by Vasco da Gama, Columbus 
(first voyage), and Magellan (map between pages 624-625). 

3. Prepare an oral report on the conquest of Mexico by Cortes and of 
Peru by Pizarro. 

4. Compare the map of Ortelius (page 626) with the map of the world 
according to Ptolemy (page 201) to show the progress of geographical 
knowledge. 


Supplementary 

Webster, Readings in Early European History, chapter xliv, “The Travels 
of Marco Polo”; chapter xlv, “The Aborigines of the New World.” 
Webster and Webb, Historical Outline Maps and Exercises: Early Euro¬ 
pean History, No. XX, Portuguese and Spanish Colonial Empires. 


CHAPTER XXVII 


REFORMATION AND COUNTER REFORMATION 

The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century was the great 
dissolvent of European conservatism. A religion which had been accepted 
with little question for twelve hundred years, which had dominated 
European thought, molded European customs, shaped no small part of 
private law and public policy, and delighted the world with exquisite 
fabrics in stone, glowing altar pieces, and solemn music, was suddenly and 
sharply questioned in all the progressive communities of the West. 

— H. A. L. Fisher 

205. Decline of the Papacy 

The Papacy, victorious in the long struggle with the Holy 
Roman Empire (§ 146), reached during the thirteenth cen- 
The Papacy tur y height of its temporal power. The popes 

in the at this time were the greatest sovereigns in 

century th Europe. They ruled a large part of Italy, had 

much influence in the affairs of France, England, 
Spain, and other countries, and in Germany named and 
deposed emperors. From their capital at Rome they sent 
forth legates to every European court and issued laws bind¬ 
ing on western Christendom. 

The temporal power of the Church proved useful and even 
necessary in feudal times, when kings were weak and nobles 
Friction were stron £- The Church of the early Middle 

between Ages served as the chief unifying force in Europe, 

state^ and WE en > however, the kings had repressed feudal¬ 

ism, they took steps to extend their authority 
over the Church as well. They tried, therefore, to restrict 
the privileges of ecclesiastical courts, to impose taxes on the 
clergy, as on their own subjects, and to dictate the appoint¬ 
ment of bishops and abbots to office. This policy naturally 

630 


Decline of the Papacy 631 

led to much friction between popes and kings, between 
Church and State. 

The Papacy put forth its most extensive claims under 
Boniface VIII. The character of these claims is shown by 
two bulls which he issued. The first forbade the Pontificate 
levying of taxes on Church lands and other eccle- of Boniface 
siastical property without the consent of the pope. vm (284) 
The second announced both the spiritual and the temporal 
supremacy of the popes. “Submission to the Roman pon¬ 
tiff/' declared Boniface, “ is altogether necessary to salvation 
for every human being” (that is, for all Christian believers). 

Boniface found a resolute and resourceful opponent in 
Philip the Fair, king of France (§ 171). Philip answered the 
first bull by refusing to allow any gold and silver Anagni 1303 
to be exported from France to Italy. The pope, 
thus deprived of valuable revenues, gave way and acknowl¬ 
edged that the French ruler had a limited right to tax the 
clergy. Another dispute soon arose, however, between the 
French king and the Roman pontiff. Philip then called to¬ 
gether the Estates-General and asked its support for the 
preservation of the ‘ ‘ ancient liberty of Franee/ ' The nobles, 
the clergy, and the Third Estate rallied around their mon¬ 
arch, accused the pope of heresy and tyranny, and declared 
that the French king was subject to God alone. The last act 
in the drama was soon played. Philip sent his emissaries into 
Italy to arrest the pope and bring him to trial before a gen¬ 
eral council in France. A band of soldiers then stormed the 
papal palace at Anagni, near Rome, and made Boniface a 
prisoner. The citizens of Anagni soon freed him, but the 
shock of the humiliation broke the pope's spirit and he died 
soon afterward. 

Philip now succeeded in having the archbishop of Bor¬ 
deaux chosen as head of the Church. The new The 
pope removed the papal court to Avignon, a town “ Babylonian 
just outside the French frontier of those days. Captmty,” 
The popes lived in Avignon for nearly seventy 
years. This period is usually described as the “Babylonian 


632 Reformation and Counter Reformation 


Captivity” of the Church, a name which recalls the exile 
of the Jews from their native land (§ 16). The long ab¬ 
sence of the popes from Rome lessened their authority, and 
the suspicion that they were the mere vassals of the French 
kings seriously impaired the respect in which they had been 
held. 

What is called the “Great Schism” came next. Shortly 
after the return of the papal court to Rome, an Italian was 
The “ Great elected pope as Urban VI. The cardinals in the 
Schism,” French interest refused to accept him, declared 
1378-1417 hj s election void, and named Clement VII as 
pope. Clement withdrew to Avignon, while Urban remained 
in Rome. Western Christendom could not decide which one 
to obey. Some countries declared for Urban, while other 
countries accepted Clement. The spectacle of two rival 
popes, each holding himself out as the only true successor of 
St. Peter, continued for about forty years and injured the 
Papacy more than anything else that had happened to it. 

The schism in western Christendom was finally healed 
Council of at the Council of Constance. There were three 
Constance, “phantom popes” at this time, but they were all 
1414-1418 deposed in favor of a new pontiff. The Roman 
Church now had a single head, but it was not easy to re¬ 
vive the former loyalty to the pope. 

The Papacy became henceforth more and more an Italian 
power. The popes neglected European politics and gave their 
chief attention to the States of the Church. A 
number of them took much interest in the 
Renaissance movement. They kept up splendid 
courts, collected manuscripts, paintings, and statues, and 
erected magnificent palaces and churches in Rome. Some 
European peoples, especially in Germany, looked askance 
at such luxury and begrudged the heavy taxes which were 
necessary to support it. This feeling against the Papacy 
also helped to provoke the Reformation. 

The worldliness of some of the popes was often re¬ 
flected in the lives of the lesser clergy. Throughout the 


The 

Renaissance 

popes 


633 


Decline of the Papacy 

thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries the Church 
encountered much criticism from reformers. The famous hu¬ 
manist, Erasmus (§ 196), wrote his Praise of Folly complaints 
to expose the temporal ambitions of bishops and against the 
monks, the speculations of theologians, and the clergy 
reliance which common people had on pilgrimages, festivals, 
relics, and other aids to devotion. The demand for this work 



was so great that it went through twenty-seven large editions 
during the author’s lifetime. Erasmus and others like him 
were loyal sons of the Church, but they believed they could 
best serve her interests by effecting her reform. Some men 
went much further, however, and demanded wholesale 
changes in Catholic belief and worship. Those who did so 
were called heretics. 

























634 Reformation and Counter Reformation 

206. Heresies and Heretics 

It is difficult for us, who live in an age of religious tolera¬ 
tion, to understand the horror which heresy inspired in the 
Middle Ages. A heretic was a traitor to the 
attitude 3 Church, for he denied the doctrines believed to 

toward be essential to salvation. It seemed a Christian 

duty to compel the heretic to recant, lest he im¬ 
peril his eternal welfare. I f he persisted in his impious course, 
then the earth ought to be rid of one who was a source of 
danger to the faithful and an enemy of the Almighty. 

Executions for heresy occurred as early as the fourth 
century, but for a long time milder penalties were usually 
Punishment inflicted. The heretic might be exiled, or im- 

0 f heresy prisoned, or deprived of his property and his 

rights as a citizen. The death penalty was seldom invoked 
by the Church before the thirteenth century. Since ecclesi¬ 
astical law forbade the Church to shed blood, the State 
stepped in to seize the heretic and put him to death, most 
often by fire. We must remember that in medieval times 
cruel punishments were imposed for even slight offenses, 
and hence men saw nothing wrong in inflicting the worst of 
punishments for what was believed to be the worst of crimes. 

Heretics were not uncommon during the later Middle 
Ages. Some heretical movements spread over entire com- 
The munities. The most important was that of the 

Aibigenses Albigenses, so called from the town of Albi in 

southern France, where many of them lived. Their doctrines 
are not well known, but they seem to have believed in the 
existence of two gods — one good (whose son was Christ), 
the other evil (whose son was Satan). The Albigenses even 
set up a rival church, with its priests, bishops, and councils. 
The failure of attempts to convert the Albigenses by peaceful 
means led one of the popes to preach a crusade against 
them. Those who entered upon it were promised the usual 
privileges of crusaders. A series of bloody wars now followed, 
in the-course of which thousands of men, women, and children 


Heresies and Heretics 


635 


perished. The Albigensian sect did not entirely disappear 
for more than a century, and then only after numberless trials 
and executions for heresy. 

The followers of Peter Waldo, the Waldenses, made no 
effort to set up a new religion in Europe. They objected, 
however, to certain prac¬ 
tices of the Church, such 
as Masses for The 
the dead and waldenses 
the veneration of saints. 

They also condemned the 
luxury of the clergy and 
urged that Christians 
should live like the Twelve 
Apostles, charitable and 
poor. The Waldenses re¬ 
garded the Bible as a suffi¬ 
cient guide to religious life, 
and so they translated 
parts of the Scriptures and 
allowed every one to 
preach, without distinc¬ 
tion of age, rank, or sex. 

The sect survived severe 
persecution and now forms 
a branch of the Protestant 
Church in Italy. 

Beliefs very similar to 
those of the Waldenses were entertained by John Wycliffe, 
master of an Oxford college and a popular preacher. He, 
too, appealed from the authority of the Church j ohn 
to the authority of the Bible. With the as- wydiffe^ 
sistance of two friends, Wycliffe produced the 
first English translation of the Scriptures. Manuscript 
copies of the work had a large circulation, until the govern¬ 
ment suppressed it. Wycliffe was not molested in life, but 
the Council of Constance denounced his teaching and ordered 



John Wycliffe 

A small woodcut from a book published in 
1548. The oldest known picture of Wycliffe and 
possibly reproduced from a contemporary sketch 
of him. He is represented preaching or lectur¬ 
ing from a stone pulpit. 

















636 Reformation and Counter Reformation 


that his bones should be dug up and burnt, and the ashes 
cast into a stream. 

“The Avon to the Severn runs, 

The Severn to the sea; 

And Wycliffe’s dust shall spread abroad 
Wide as the waters be.” 

Wycliffe had organized bands of “poor priests” to spread 
the simple truths of the Bible through all England. They 
„ , went out, staff in hand and clad in long, russet 
gowns, and preached to the common people m the 
English language, wherever an audience could be found. 
The Lollards, as Wycliffe’s followers were known, not only 
attacked many beliefs and practices of the Church, but also 
demanded social reforms. For instance, they declared that 
all wars were sinful and were but plundering and murdering 
the poor to win glory for kings. The Lollards had to endure 
much persecution for heresy. Their work, nevertheless, lived 
on and sowed in England and Scotland the seeds of the 
Reformation. 

The doctrines of Wycliffe penetrated Bohemia, where 
they attracted the attention of John Huss, a distinguished 
John Huss, scholar in the University of Prague. Wycliffe’s 
1373 (?)-1415 wr itings confirmed Huss in his criticism of many 
doctrines of the Church. He attacked the clergy in sermons 
and pamphlets and also objected to the supremacy of the 
pope. The sentence of excommunication pronounced against 
him did not shake his reforming zeal. Huss was finally cited 
to appear before the Council of Constance, then in session. 
Relying on the safe conduct given him by the Holy Roman 
Emperor, Huss appeared before the council, only to be de¬ 
clared guilty of teaching “many things evil, scandalous, 
seditious, and dangerously heretical.” The emperor then 
violated the safe conduct — no promise made to a heretic 
was considered binding — and allowed Huss to be burnt 
outside the walls of Constance. Such was the tragic end of 
this Bohemian reformer. 


Martin Luther and the Reformation in Germany 637 


207. Martin Luther and the Reformation 
in Germany 

There were many reformers before the Reformation, but 
the beginning of that movement is rightly associated with the 
name of Martin Luther. He was the son of a Martin 
German peasant, who, by industry and frugality, Luther, 
had won a small competence. Thanks to his 1483-1546 
father’s self-sacrifice, Luther enjoyed a good education in 
scholastic philosophy at the University of Erfurt. He took 
the degrees of bachelor and master of arts and then began 
to study law, but an acute sense of his sinfulness and a 
desire to save his soul soon drove him into a monastery. 
A few years later Luther visited Rome, only to be shocked by 
the general laxity of life in the capital of the Papacy. He 
returned to Germany and became a professor of theology 
in the University of Wittenberg, newly founded by Frederick 
the Wise, elector of Saxony. Luther’s sermons and lectures 
attracted large audiences; students began to flock to Witten¬ 
berg; and the elector grew proud of the rising young teacher 
who was making his university famous. 

Luther was soon to emerge from his academic retirement 
and to become, quite unintentionally, a reformer. There 
came into the neighborhood of Wittenberg a Tetzeiand 
Dominican friar named Tetzel, granting indul- indulgences 
gences in return for money to be used for the erection of the 
new St. Peter’s at Rome (§ 145). An indulgence is a letter of 
pardon relieving a truly penitent sinner from some or all of 
the penances (punishments) which the Church would otherwise 
impose upon him. Its benefits, according to Catholic teaching, 
are also applied to the souls of the dead in purgatory. Indul¬ 
gences were granted to crusaders and pilgrims, and to those 
who contributed money for a pious object, such as the erection 
of a church or a convent. Many German princes opposed 
this method of raising funds for the Church, because it took 
so much money out of their dominions. Huss and Erasmus 
had also condemned indulgences on religious grounds. 


638 Reformation and Counter Reformation 


Luther began his reforming career with an attack upon 
indulgences. He did not deny their usefulness altogether, but 
pointed out that they lent themselves to grave 
abuses. Common people, who could not under¬ 
stand the Latin in which they were written, often 
thought that they wiped away the penalties of 
sin, even without true repentance. Luther also denied the 
efficacy of indulgences for souls in purgatory. These and 
other criticisms he set forth in ninety-five theses, or proposi¬ 
tions, which he offered to defend against all opponents. 
In accordance with the custom of medieval scholars, Luther 
posted his theses on the door of the church at Wittenberg, 
where all might see them. They were composed in Latin, but 
were at once translated into German, printed, and spread 
broadcast over Germany. Their effect was so great that before 
long the granting of indulgences in that country almost ceased. 

The scholarly critic of indulgences soon passed into an open 
foe of the Papacy. Luther found that his theological views 
Burning of bore a close resemblance to those of Wycliffe and 
the papal bull John Huss, yet he refused to give them up as 
heretical. Instead, he wrote three bold pamphlets, in one 
of which he appealed to the “Christian nobility of the 
German nation” to rally together against Rome. The pope, 
at first, had paid little attention to the controversy about 
indulgences, declaring it “a mere squabble of monks,” but 
he now issued a bull against Luther, ordering him to recant 
within sixty days or be excommunicated. The papal bull did 
not frighten Luther or withdraw from him popular support. 
He burnt it in the market square of Wittenberg, in the pres¬ 
ence of a concourse of students and townsfolk. This dramatic 
answer to the pope deeply stirred all Germany. 

The next scene of the Reformation was staged at Worms, 
at an important assembly, or Diet, of the Holy Roman Em- 
Diet of pke. The Diet summoned Luther to appear be- 

worms, fore it for examination, and the emperor, Charles 

V (Charles I of Spain), gave him a safe conduct. 
Luther’s friends, remembering the treatment of Huss, ad- 


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Martin Luther and the Reformation in Germany 639 

vised him not to accept the summons, but he declared that 
he would enter Worms “in the face of the gates of hell and 
the powers of the air.” Luther at Worms bravely confronted 
the princes, nobles, and clergy of Germany. He refused to 
retract anything he had written, unless his statements could 
be shown to contradict the Bible. “It is neither right nor 
safe to act against conscience,” Luther said. “God help 
me. Amen.” 

The Diet of Worms proclaimed Luther a heretic and out¬ 
law, but his friends spirited him away to the castle of the 
Wartburg. He remained in seclusion for nearly a Luther , s 
year, engaged upon a translation of the Bible, leadership 
Though still under the ban of the empire, Luther (500) 
now returned to Wittenberg and devoted himself to the re¬ 
formatory movement. His translation of the Bible, simple, 
forcible, and easy to understand, enjoyed wide popularity 
and helped to fix for Germans the form of their literary 
language. Luther also composed many fine hymns and a 
catechism, flooded the country with pamphlets, and wrote 
innumerable letters to his followers. He became in this 
way the leader of the Reformation in Germany. 

The Reformation made a wide appeal. To patriotic Ger¬ 
mans it seemed a revolt against a foreign power — the Ital¬ 
ian Papacy. To men of pious mind it offered The 
the attractions of an apparently simple faith formed 
based on the Bible. Worldly-minded princes ^^ ion ” 
saw in it an opportunity to take over for them¬ 
selves the lands and revenues of the Church. Luther’s teach¬ 
ings, accordingly, found acceptance among many people. 
Priests married, monks left their monasteries, and the “Re¬ 
formed Religion” took the place of Roman Catholicism in 
most parts of northern and central Germany. South Ger¬ 
many, however, did not fall away from the pope and has 
remained Roman Catholic to the present time. 

Germany had now divided into two religious parties, but 
the legal position of Lutheranism remained for a long time in 
doubt. One Diet tried to shelve the question by allowing 


640 Reformation and Counter Reformation 

each German state to conduct its religious affairs as it saw 
fit. At another Diet, held in 1529, a majority of the assem- 
The bled princes decided that the Edict of Worms 

Protestants against Luther and his followers should be en¬ 
forced. The Lutheran princes at once issued a vigorous 
protest against such action. Because of this protest those 
who separated from the Roman Church came to be called 
Protestants. 

Luther’s doctrines also spread into Scandinavian lands. 

_ A . The rulers of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden 
in scandi- closed the monasteries and compelled the Roman 
navia Catholic bishops to surrender ecclesiastical prop¬ 

erty to the Crown. Lutheranism became henceforth the 
official religion of these three countries. 

208. The Reformation in Switzerland 

The Reformation in Switzerland began with the work of 
He was the contemporary, but not the disciple, 
of Luther. From his pulpit in the cathedral of 
Zurich, Zwingli proclaimed the Scriptures as the 
sole guide of faith and denied the supremacy of 
the pope. Many of the Swiss cantons accepted 
his teaching and broke away from obedience to Rome. 
Civil war soon followed between Protestants and Roman 
Catholics, and Zwingli fell in the struggle. The two parties 
at length made a peace which allowed each canton to de¬ 
termine its own religion. Switzerland has continued to this 
day to be part Roman Catholic and part Protestant. 

The Protestants in Switzerland soon found another leader 
in John Calvin, a Frenchman who settled in Geneva. His 
John Calvin, most important work was the Institutes of the 
1509-1564 Christian Religion , which set forth in an orderly, 
logical manner the main principles of Protestant theology. 
Calvin also translated the Bible into French and wrote 
valuable commentaries on nearly all the Scriptural books. 
Calvin at Geneva was sometimes called the Protestant pope. 


Zwingli. 

Huldreich 

Zwingli, 

1484-1531 

(503) 


The Reformation in Switzerland 


641 


During his long residence there he governed the people with 
a rod of iron. There were no more festivals, no more 
theaters, no more dancing, music, and masquerades. All 
the citizens had to attend two sermons on Sunday and to 
yield at least a lip-assent to the reformer’s doctrines. 
Nevertheless, Geneva prospered under Calvin’s rule and 
became a Christian commonwealth, sober and industrious. 
That city still reveres the 
memory of the man who 
founded her university and 
made her, as it were, the 
sanctuary of the Reforma¬ 
tion. 

Calvin, a more radical 
reformer than Luther, de¬ 
parted much „ , . . 

1 Calvinism 

more widely 
from Roman Catholicism. 

He did away with the epis¬ 
copate, or rule of bishops 
(§ 102), and kept only two 
sacraments, baptism and 
the Eucharist. The first 
was regarded as merely an 
undertaking to bring up 
the child in a Christian manner and the second as merely a 
commemoration of the last supper of Jesus with the apostles. 
Calvin also provided for a very simple form of worship, con¬ 
sisting of Bible reading, a sermon, extemporaneous prayers, 
and hymns sung by the congregation. These features of 
Calvinism are found to-day in the Presbyterian and Con¬ 
gregational Churches. 

Calvin’s influence was not confined to Geneva or even to 
Switzerland. The men whom he trained and on whom he set 
the stamp of his stern, earnest, God-fearing char- Diffusion of 
acter spread Calvinism over a great part of Calvinism 
western Europe. It became in Holland and Scotland the 



ZWINGLI 

After a painting by Hans Asper. 






642 Reformation and Counter Reformation 


prevailing type of Protestantism, and in France and England 
it deeply affected the national life. The Puritans in the 
seventeenth century carried Calvinism across the sea to 
New England, where it formed the dominant faith in colonial 
times. 

209. The English Reformation 


The Reformation in Germany and Switzerland started as a 
national and popular movement; in England it began as the 
v tt act a despotic sovereign, Henry VIII, the 

Henry 1 second king of the Tudor dynasty (§ 172). He 

was handsome, athletic, finely educated, and very able; but 
he was also selfish, sensual, and cruel. His father had 
created a strong monarchy in England by humbling both 
Parliament and the nobles. When Henry VIII came to the 
throne, the only serious obstacle in the way of the royal 
authority was the Roman Church. 

The separation from Rome arose out of Henry’s matri¬ 
monial difficulties. He had married a Spanish princess, 
Henry and Catherine of Aragon, the aunt of the emperor 

Catherine Charles V and widow of Henry’s older brother, 

of Aragon The marriage required a dispensation from the 

pope, because Church law forbade a man to wed his brother’s 
widow. After living happily with Catherine for eighteen 
years, Henry suddenly announced his conviction that the 
union was sinful. This, of course, formed simply a pretext 
for the divorce which Henry desired. Of his children by 
Catherine only a daughter survived, but Henry wished to 
have a son succeed him on the throne. Moreover, he had 
grown tired of Catherine and had fallen in love with Anne 
Boleyn, a pretty maid-in-waiting at the court. 

Henry at first tried to secure the pope’s consent to the 
divorce. The pope did not like to set aside the dispensation 
Catherine granted by his predecessor, nor did he wish to 
divorced offend the emperor Charles V. Failing to get the 
papal sanction, Henry obtained the divorce from an English 
court presided over by the archbishop of Canterbury. Anne 


The English Reformation 643 

Boleyn was then proclaimed queen, in defiance of the papal 
bull of excommunication. 

Henry’s next step was to procure from his subservient 
Parliament a series of laws which abolished the pope’s au¬ 
thority in England. The most important of these Act of 
was the Act of Supremacy. It declared the Eng- Supremacy, 
lish king to be “the only supreme head on earth 1534 (509) 
of the Church of England.” At the same time, another law 
imposed the death penalty on any one who called the king a 
“heretic, schismatic, tyrant, infidel, or usurper.” The great 
majority of the English people seem to have accepted the new 
legislation without much objection; those who refused to do 
so perished on the scaffold. 

The suppression of the monasteries soon followed the 
separation from Rome. Henry declared to Parliament that 
they deserved to be abolished, because of the The 
“slothful and ungodly lives” led by the inmates, monasteries 
This accusation may have been true in some in- su PP ressed 
stances, but the real reason for Henry’s action was his desire 
to crush the monastic orders, which supported the pope, and 
to seize their extensive possessions. The beautiful monas¬ 
teries were torn down, and the lands attached to them were 
sold for the benefit of the Crown or granted to Henry’s 
favorites. The nobles who accepted this monastic wealth 
naturally became zealous advocates of Henry’s anti-papal 
policy. » 

The Reformation made rapid progress in England under 
Henry’s successor, Edward VI. The young king’s guardian 
allowed reformers from the Continent to come to Progress of 
England, and the doctrines of Luther, Zwingli, the Reforma- 
and Calvin were freely preached there. All 
paintings, statuary, wood carvings, and stained 
glass were removed from church edifices. The use of tapers, 
incense, and holy water was also discontinued. In order that 
religious services might be conducted in the language of the 
people, the Book of Common Prayer was prepared. It con¬ 
sisted of translations into noble English of various parts of 


644 Reformation and Counter Reformation 


the old Latin service books. This work is still used in the 
Anglican Church and the Protestant Episcopal Churcli of 
the United States. 

The short reign of Mary Tudor, daughter of Catherine of 
Aragon, was marked by a temporary return to the Catholic 
^ faith. The queen prevailed on Parliament to 

reaction secure a reconciliation with Rome. She also 

Tudor Mary marr i e d her Roman Catholic cousin, Philip of 
Spain, the son of Charles V. Mary now began 
a severe persecution of the Protestants. It gained for her 
the epithet of “Bloody,” but it did not succeed in stamping 
out heresy. Mary died childless, after ruling about five 

years, and the 
crown passed in 
1558 to Anne Bo- 
leyn’s daughter, 
Elizabeth. 

Queen Elizabeth 
came to the throne 
when about twenty- 
Silver Coin of Elizabeth’s Reign five years old. She 

was tall and com¬ 
manding in presence and endowed with great physical vigor 
and endurance. After hunting all day or dancing all night she 
Elizabeth cou ld still attend unremittingly to public busi¬ 
ness., Elizabeth had received an excellent edu¬ 
cation; she spoke Latin and several modern languages; knew 
a little Greek; and displayed some skill in music. To her 
father, Henry VIII, she doubtless owed her tactfulness and 
charm of manner, as well as her imperious will; she resem¬ 
bled her mother, Anne Boleyn, in her vanity and love of dis¬ 
play. As a ruler Elizabeth was shrewd, farsighted, a good 
judge of character, and willing to be guided by the able 
counselors who surrounded her. Above all, Elizabeth was 
an ardent patriot. She understood and loved her people, and 
they, in turn, felt a chivalrous devotion to the “Virgin 
Queen,” to “Good Queen Bess.” 



The Protestant Sects 


645 


The daughter of Anne Boleyn had been bom under the ban 
of the pope, so that opposition to Rome was the natural 
course for her to pursue. Two Acts of Parlia- Protestantism 
ment now separated England once more from inEn siand 
the Papacy and gave to the Anglican Church the form and 
doctrines which it keeps to-day. 

210. The Protestant Sects 

The Reformation was practically completed before the 
close of the sixteenth century. In 1500 the Roman Church 
embraced all Europe west of Russia and the Extent of 
Balkan peninsula. By 1600 nearly half of its Protestantism 
former subjects had renounced their allegiance. The greater 
part of Germany and Switzerland and all of Denmark, 
Norway, Sweden, Holland, England, Wales, and Scotland 
became independent of the Papacy. The unity of western 
Christendom, which had been preserved throughout the 
Middle Ages, thus disappeared and has not since been re¬ 
stored in Europe. 

The reformers agreed in substituting for the authority of 
popes and church councils the authority of the Bible. They 
went back fifteen hundred years to apostolic Common 
times and tried to restore what they believed features of 
to be the original form of Christianity. Hence Protestantlsm 
they rejected such doctrines and practices as were supposed 
to have developed during the Middle Ages. These included 
belief in purgatory, veneration of relics, invocation of saints, 
devotion to the Virgin, indulgences, pilgrimages, and the 
greater number of the sacraments. The Reformation also 
abolished the monastic system and priestly celibacy. The 
sharp distinction between clergy and laity disappeared; for 
priests married, lived among the people, and no longer 
formed a separate class. Protestantism affirmed the right 
of every man to find salvation without the aid of priests. 
The Church was to be no longer the only “gate of heaven” 
(§ 137). 


646 Reformation and Counter Reformation 


The denial of the authority of popes and church councils 
Divisions led inevitably to differences of opinion among 

among Protestants. This was the case because they 

Protestants C0VL \& no t agree upon the interpretation of the 
Bible, which formed for them the rule of faith and conduct. 



Han* 


p^x i 










Lutheran 


Calvinist. 

Anglican . . . . 
Roman Catholic 


Extent of the Reformation, 1524-1572 


Protestantism split up into many sects or denominations, and 
these have gone on multiplying to the present day. Nearly 
all, however, are offshoots from the three main varieties of 
Protestantism (Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Anglicanism) 
that appeared in the sixteenth century. 

The break with Rome did not introduce religious liberty 
into Europe. Nothing was further from the minds of Luther, 



































The Counter Reformation 647 

Calvin, and other reformers than the toleration of beliefs 
unlike their own. The early Protestant sects TheRef 
punished dissenters as zealously as the Roman ormationand 
Church punished heretics. Complete freedom of f t ^ e 0 e u d g °j^ of 
conscience and the right of private judgment in 
religion have been secured in most countries of Europe only 
within the last hundred years. 

The Reformation, however, did deepen the moral life of 
European peoples. The faithful Protestant or Roman Catho¬ 
lic vied with his neighbor in trying to show that The Ref _ 
his particular form of belief made for better living ormation 
than any other. The impulse to higher stand- andmorals 
ards of morality, which we owe to the Reformation, is still 
felt at the present day. 

211. The Counter Reformation 

The rapid spread of Protestantism soon brought about a 
Catholic Counter Reformation. The popes now turned from 
the cultivation of Renaissance art and literature The 
to the defense of their threatened faith. They reforming 
made needed changes in the papal court and ap- popes 
pointed to ecclesiastical offices men distinguished for virtue 
and learning. This reform of the Papacy dates from the 
time of Paul III, who became pope in 1534. He opened the 
college of cardinals to Roman Catholic reformers, even of¬ 
fering a seat in it to Erasmus. Still more important was his 
support of the famous Society of Jesus, which had been 
established in the year of his accession to the Papacy. 

The founder of the new society was a Spanish nobleman, 
Ignatius Loyola. He had seen a good deal of service in the 
wars of Charles V. While in a hospital recover- st. Ignatius 
ing from a wound, Loyola read devotional books, Loyola 
and these produced a profound change within him. He now 
donned a beggar’s robe, practiced all the kinds of asceticism 
which his books described, and went on a pilgrimage to 
Jerusalem. Still later he became a student of theology at 


648 Reformation and Counter Reformation 

Paris, where he met the six devout and talented men who 
became the first members of his society. They intended to 
work as missionaries among the Moslems, but, when this 
plan fell through, they visited Rome and placed their 
energy and enthusiasm at the disposal of the pope. 

Loyola’s military training deeply affected the character of 
the new order. The Jesuits, as their Protestant opponents 
called them, were to be an army of spiritual soldiers, living 
under the strictest obedience to 
their head, or general, and fighting 
The Society manfully for the 
of Jesus Church and against 
heretics. The society grew rapidly; 
before Loyola’s death it included 
over a thousand members; and in 
the seventeenth century it became 
the most influential of all the re¬ 
ligious orders. The activity of the 
Jesuits as preachers, confessors, 
teachers, and missionaries did 
much to roll back the rising tide 
of Protestantism in Europe. 

The Jesuits gave special atten¬ 
tion to education, for they realized 
. , , the importance of win- 

Jesuit schools . 1 

nmg over the young 
people to the Church. Their schools 
were so good that even Protestant children often attended 
them. The popularity of Jesuit teachers arose partly from 
the fact that they always tried to lead, not drive, their pupils. 
Light punishments, short lessons, many holidays, and a lib¬ 
eral use of prizes and other distinctions formed some of 
the attractive features of their system of training. It is not 
surprising that the Jesuits became the instructors of the 
Roman Catholic world. They called their colleges the 
'‘fortresses of the faith.” 

The missions of the Jesuits were not less important than 



St. Ignatius Loyola 

After the painting by Sanchez de 
Coello in the House of the Society of 
Jesus at Madrid. 





The Counter Reformation 


649 


their schools. The Jesuits worked in Poland, Hungary, Bo¬ 
hemia, and other countries where Protestantism threatened 
to become dominant. They also invaded the Jesuit 
lands which the great maritime discoveries of missions 
the preceding age had laid open to European enterprise. In 
India, China, the East Indies, Japan, the Philippines, Africa, 
and the two Americas their converts from heathenism were 
numbered by hundreds of thousands. 

The most eminent of all Jesuit missionaries, St. Francis 
Xavier, had belonged to Loyola’s original band. He was a 
little, blue-eyed man, an engaging preacher, an st. Francis 
excellent organizer, and possessed of so attractive Xavier 
a personality that even the ruffians and pirates with whom 
he had to associate on his voyages became his friends. 
Xavier labored with such devotion and success in the Portu¬ 
guese colonies of the Far East as to gain the title of “Apostle 
to the Indies.” He also introduced Christianity into Japan, 
where it flourished until a persecuting ruler extinguished it 
with fire and sword. 

Another agency in the Counter Reformation was the great 
Church Council summoned by Pope Paul III. It met at 
Trent, on the borders of Germany and Italy, and council of 
continued, with intermissions, for nearly twenty Trent, 1545- 
years. The Council of Trent made no essential 1563 (517) 
changes in Roman Catholic doctrines, which remained as 
theologians had set them forth in the Middle Ages. It de¬ 
clared that the tradition of the Church possessed equal 
authority with the Bible and reaffirmed the supremacy of 
the pope over Christendom. The council also passed decrees 
forbidding the sale of ecclesiastical offices and requiring 
bishops and other prelates to attend strictly to their duties. 

The council, before adjourning, authorized the pope to 
draw up a list, or Index, of works which Roman Catholics 
might not read. This action did not form an TheIndex 
innovation. The Church from an early day had 
condemned and destroyed heretical writings. However, the 
invention of printing, by giving greater currency to new 


650 Reformation and Counter Reformation 

and dangerous ideas, seemed to increase the necessity for 
the regulation of thought. The ‘‘ Index of Prohibited Books ’’ 
still exists, and additions to the list are made from time to 
time. It was matched by the strict censorship of printing 
long maintained in Protestant countries. 

Still another agency of the Counter Reformation consisted 
of the Inquisition. This was a system of ecclesiastical courts 
The for the discovery and punishment of heretics, 

inquisition Such courts had been set up in the Middle Ages, 
for instance, to suppress the Albigensian heresy (§ 206). 
After the Council of Trent they redoubled their activity, 
especially in Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain. 

The Inquisition probably did much to prevent the spread 
of Protestantism in Italy. In the Netherlands, where it 
influence worked with great severity, it only aroused ex- 
0 f the asperation and hatred, and helped to provoke a 

inquisition successful revolt of the Dutch people. The 
Spaniards, on the other hand, approved of the methods of 
the Inquisition and supported its activities. It was not 
abolished in Spain until the nineteenth century. 


212. The Religious Wars 

The young man who as Holy Roman Emperor presided at 
the Diet of Worms in 1521 (§ 207) had assumed the imperial 
Charles v crown only two years previously. A namesake of 
Holy Roman Charlemagne, Charles V held sway over domin- 
Emperor i ons even more extensive than those which had 
belonged to the Frankish king. Through his mother, a 
daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella (§ 173), he inherited 
Spain, Naples, Sicily, and the Spanish possessions in the 
New World. Through his father he received the Nether¬ 
lands and the extensive possessions of the Hapsburgs in 
central Europe. He was thus the most powerful monarch 
of the age. 

Charles, as a devout Roman Catholic, had no sympathy for 
the Reformation. He declared at Worms his determination 


The Religious Wars 651 



to stake ‘'all his dominions, his friends, his body and blood, 
his life and soul” upon the extinction of the Peaceof 
Lutheran heresy. This might have been an easy Augsburg, 
task, had Charles undertaken it at once. A revolt 1555 
in Spain and wars with the French and the Ottoman Turks 
led, however, to his 
long absence from 
Germany. The 
emperor, finally, 
brought Spanish 
troops into Ger¬ 
many, but the Lu¬ 
theran princes were 
now too strong for 
him. Civil war 
raged for a number 
of years, until both 
sides agreed to the 
Peace of Augsburg. 

It was a compro¬ 
mise. The ruler of 
each state — Ger¬ 
many then con¬ 
tained over three 
hundred states — 
was to decide 
whether his sub¬ 
jects should be 
Lutherans or Cath¬ 
olics. The peace 
thus failed to es¬ 
tablish religious 
toleration, since all Germans had to believe as their prince 
believed. However, it recognized Lutheranism as a legal 
religion and ended the attempts to crush the German Ref¬ 
ormation. 

Soon after the Peace of Augsburg, Charles V determined to 


Charles V 

Pinakothek, Munich 

A portrait by the Venetian painter, Titian, made in 1518, 
when the emperor was forty-eight years of age. 









652 


Reformation and Counter Reformation 


abdicate his many crowns and seek the repose of a monastery. 
The plan was duly carried into effect. His brother suc- 
Abdication ceeded to the title of Holy Roman Emperor and 
of Charles v the Austrian territories, while his son, Philip II, 
received the Spanish dominions in Italy, the Netherlands, and 
America. There were now two branches of the Hapsburg 
family — one in Austria and one in Spain. 

Philip II, the new king of Spain, was a man of unflagging 
energy, strong will, and deep attachment to the Roman 
Philip ii, Church. He had two great ideals: to make 
king of Spain Spain the foremost state in the world, and to 
secure the triumph of the Roman Catholic faith over Protes¬ 
tantism. Though he had vast possessions, enormous rev¬ 
enues, mighty fleets, and armies reputed to be the best of the 
age, he could not dominate western Europe. His first defeat 
was in the Netherlands. 

The Netherlands were too near Germany not to be affected 
by the Reformation. Lutheranism soon appeared there, only 
Protestant- to encounter the hostility of Charles V, who intro- 
ism in the duced the terrors of the Inquisition. Many 
Netherlands h ere ti cs we re burned at the stake, or beheaded, 
or buried alive. But there is no seed like martyr’s blood. 
The number of Protestants swelled, rather than lessened, 
especially after Calvinism entered the Netherlands. 

In spite of the cruel treatment of heretics by Charles V, 
both Flemish and Dutch remained loyal to the emperor, be- 
PhiUp n cause he had been bom and reared among them 
and the and always considered their country as his own. 
Netherlands n, a Spaniard by birth and sympathies, 

seemed to them only a foreign master. The new ruler did 
nothing to conciliate the people, but governed them des¬ 
potically through Spanish officials supported by Spanish 
garrisons. Arbitrary taxes were levied, cities and nobles 
were deprived of their cherished privileges, and the ac¬ 
tivity of the Inquisition was redoubled. Philip intended to 
exercise in the Netherlands the same absolute power en¬ 
joyed by him in Spain. His policies soon produced a revolt 


The Religious Wars 653 

of both Roman Catholics and Protestants against Spanish 
oppression. 

The Netherlanders found a leader in William Prince of 
Orange, later known as William the Silent, because of his 
customary discreetness. He had fair ability as a william the 
general, a statesmanlike grasp of the situation, Silent 
and, above all, a stout, courageous heart which never wavered 
in time of danger and defeat. To rescue his people from Spain 
he sacrificed his high position, his wealth, and eventually 
his life. “As long as he lived he was the guiding star of a 
whole nation, and when he died the little children wept.” 

The ten southern provinces of the Netherlands, mainly 
Roman Catholic in population, did not long continue their 
resistance. They effected a reconciliation with _ 

. . . Separation 

Philip and continued for over two centuries to 0 f the 
remain in Hapsburg hands. Modern Belgium has ^ t 5 he 3 r ^ ds 
grown out of them. The seven northern prov¬ 
inces, where Dutch was the language and Protestantism the 
religion, came together in 1579 in the Union of Utrecht. 
Two years later they declared their independence of Spain. 
The Dutch Republic, or simply “Holland,” thus took its 
place among European nations. 

The contest of Holland against Spain forms a notable 
episode in history. The Dutch fought bravely and on more 
than one occasion repelled the enemy by cutting The Dutch 
the dikes and letting in the sea. William the struggle for 
Silent perished in a dark hour by an assassin's llberty 
bullet, but the contest continued. England now came to the 
aid of the hard-pressed republic with money and a small army. 
Philip turned upon his new antagonist and sent against Eng¬ 
land the great fleet called the “ Invincible Armada.” Its de¬ 
struction interfered with further attempts to subjugate the 
Dutch, but the Spanish monarch, stubborn to the last, refused 
to acknowledge their independence. His successor consented 
in 1609 to a twelve years' truce with the revolted provinces, 
but their freedom was not recognized officially by Spain un¬ 
til many years later. 


654 Reformation and Counter Reformation 


The long struggle bound the Dutch together and made 
them one nation. During the seventeenth century they took 
The Dutch a prominent part in European affairs. The re- 
Repubiic public which they founded ought to be of special 

interest to Americans. Holland had the earliest system of 
common schools supported by taxation, early adopted the 
principles of religious toleration and freedom of the press, 
and in the Union of Utrecht gave to the world the first 
written constitution of a modern state. The Dutch were 
pioneers of modern democracy. 

The attempt of Philip II to conquer England, a stronghold 
of Protestantism under Queen Elizabeth (§ 209), likewise 
Philip ii and ended disastrously. It must be admitted that 
England Philip could plead strong justification for his 
hostility. Elizabeth allowed English “sea-dogs,” such as 
Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh, to plunder Spanish 
colonies and seize Spanish vessels laden with the treasure 
of the New World. Moreover, she aided the rebellious 
Dutch, at first secretly and at length openly, in their struggle 
against Spain. Philip put up with these aggressions for 
many years, but finally came to the conclusion that he 
could never subdue the Netherlands or end the piracy and 
smuggling in Spanish America without first conquering Eng¬ 
land. Philip seems to have believed that, as soon as a 
Spanish army landed on the island, the Roman Catholics 
there would rally to his cause. The Spanish king never had 
a chance to verify his belief; the decisive battle took place 
on the sea. 

Philip had not completed his preparations before Sir Fran¬ 
cis Drake sailed into Cadiz harbor and destroyed a vast 
The “ in- amount of naval stores and shipping. This ex- 
vindbie ploit, which Drake called “singeing the king of 
Spain’s beard,” delayed the expedition for a year. 
The “ Invincible Armada” set out at last in 1588. 
The Spanish vessels, though somewhat larger than those 
of the English, were inferior in number, speed, and gunnery to 
their adversaries, while the Spanish officers, mostly unused 


Armada, ; 
1588 



QUEEN ELIZABETH 

After the painting by Zucchero 












PHILIP II 

After the painting by Titian in the Prado Museum, Madrid 






655 


The Religious Wars 

to the sea, were no match for men like Drake and Raleigh, 
the best mariners of the age. The Armada suffered severely 
in a nine days’ fight in the Channel, and many vessels which 
escaped the English guns met shipwreck off the Scotch and 
Irish coasts. Less than half of the fleet returned in safety 
to Spain. 1 

England in the later Middle Ages had been an important 
naval power. During the sixteenth century, however, she 
was overmatched by Spain. The defeat of the English 
Armada showed that a new people had arisen to sea -p° wer 
claim the supremacy of the ocean. The English henceforth 
began to build up a sea-power greater than any other known 
to history. 

“Britannia needs no bulwarks, 

No towers along the steep; 

Her march is o’er the mountain-waves, 

Her home is on the deep.” 

The French Protestants, or Huguenots, naturally accepted 
the doctrines of Calvin, who was himself a Frenchman and 
whose books were written in the French language. The 
Though bitterly persecuted, the Huguenots gained Huguenots 
a large following, especially among the prosperous middle 
class of the towns. Many nobles also became Huguenots, 
sometimes because of religious conviction, but often because 
the new movement offered them an opportunity to recover 
their feudal independence and to acquire the estates of the 
Church. The Reformation in France, as well as in Germany, 
had its worldly side. 

Fierce conflicts raged in France between the Roman 
Catholics and the Huguenots. Philip II aided the former 
and Queen Elizabeth gave some help to the lat- The 
ter. France suffered terribly in the struggle, not Huguenot 
only from the constant fighting, but also from wars 
the pillage, burnings, and massacres in which both sides 
engaged. The Huguenot wars ended during the reign of 
Henry IV, the first of the Bourbon kings of France. Though 
i See the plate facing page 639. 


656 Reformation and Counter Reformation 


originally a Protestant, he became a Roman Catholic, in or¬ 
der to conciliate the great majority of his subjects. “Paris/" 

he said, “is well worth 
a Mass.” 

King Henry did not 
break with the Hugue- 

Edict of n0ts ‘ Hft 

Nantes, 1598 issued in 

(504) their favor 

the celebrated Edict 
of Nantes. The Hu¬ 
guenots were hence¬ 
forth to enjoy freedom 
of private worship 
everywhere in France, 
and freedom to wor¬ 
ship publicly in a large 
number of villages and 
towns. Only Roman 
Catholic services, how¬ 
ever, might be held in 
Paris. The edict did 
not grant complete re¬ 
ligious liberty, but it 
marked an important 
step in that direction. 
A great European state thus recognized the principle that 
two rival faiths might exist side by side within its borders. 



Henry IV 

After an old engraving. The king wears a hat 
with plumes and an aigrette, a ruff, and an embroid¬ 
ered cloak. On his breast is the order of the Holy 
Spirit. 


213. The Thirty Years’ War 

The Peace of Augsburg gave repose to Germany for more 
than sixty years, but it did not form a satisfactory settlement 
Causes of of the religious question in that country. There 
the war was s tUl room for bitter disputes, especially over 
the ownership of Church property which had been secular¬ 
ized in the course of the Reformation. Furthermore, the 






CXyi'tO' 


















































































658 Reformation and Counter Reformation 


peace recognized only Roman Catholics and Lutherans and 
extended no rights whatever to the large body of Calvinists. 
Politics, as well as religion, made for dissension. The 
Roman Catholic party relied for support on the Hapsburg 
emperors, who wished to unite the German states under 
their control, thus restoring the Holy Roman Empire to 
its former proud position in the affairs of Europe. The 
Protestant princes, on the other hand, wanted to become 
independent sovereigns. Hence they opposed all efforts to 
extend the imperial authority over them. 

Religious antagonism and political friction together pro¬ 
duced the Thirty Years’ War. It was not so much a single 
Course of conflict in Germany as a series of conflicts, which 
the war finally involved nearly all western Europe. At 
one time Sweden took a prominent part in the struggle, under 
her heroic king, Gustavus Adolphus, who came to the aid 
of the Protestant princes against the Holy Roman Emperor. 
After the death of Gustavus Adolphus in battle, the German 
Protestants found an ally, strangely enough, in Cardinal 
Richelieu, the all-powerful minister of the French king. 
Richelieu entered the struggle in order to humble the Aus¬ 
trian Hapsburgs and extend the boundaries of France toward 
the Rhine. Since the Spanish Hapsburgs were aiding their 
Austrian kinsmen, Richelieu naturally fought against Spain 
also. The Holy Roman Emperor had to yield at last and 
consented to the treaties of peace signed at two cities in the 
province of Westphalia. 

The Peace of Westphalia ended the long series of wars 
following the Reformation. It allowed the Protestant princes 
Peace of °f Germany to keep the Church lands which they 
Westphalia, had confiscated. It also granted religious tolera¬ 
tion to the Calvinists in Germany, thus putting 
them on the same footing with Lutherans and Roman 
Catholics in that country. Nothing was said in the treaties 
about liberty of conscience, but from this time the idea that 
religious differences should be settled by force gradually 
passed from the minds of men. 


659 


The Thirty Years’ War 

The territorial readjustments made by the treaties have 
deeply affected later European history. France received 
from the Holy Roman Empire a large part of Territorial re- 
Alsace, in this way obtaining a foothold on the adjustments 
upper Rhine. She also secured the recognition of her claims 
to the bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun in Lorraine. 
Sweden gained lands along the Baltic coast of Germany. 
These possessions enabled her to control the mouths of the 
rivers Oder, Elbe, and Weser, which were important arteries 
of German commerce. Brandenburg — the future kingdom 
of Prussia — acquired eastern Pomerania and several bishop¬ 
rics, thus becoming the leading state in North Germany. 
The independence of Switzerland and of the United Nether¬ 
lands was also recognized. 

The Peace of Westphalia left Germany more divided than 
ever. Each one of the larger states was free to coin money, 
raise armies, make war, and negotiate treaties Disruption of 
without consulting the emperor. The Holy German y 
Roman Empire, in fact, had become a mere phantom. The 
Hapsburgs from now on devoted themselves to their Aus¬ 
trian dominions, which included more -non-Germans than 
Germans. The failure of the Hapsburgs in the Thirty Years’ 
War long postponed the unification of Germany. 

During the Thirty Years’ War Germany had seen most of 
the fighting. She suffered from it to the point of exhaustion. 
The population dwindled from about sixteen Exhaustion 
millions to one-half, or, as some believe, to one- of Germany 
third that number. The loss of life was partly due to fear¬ 
ful epidemics, such as typhus fever and the bubonic plague, 
which spread over the land in the wake of the invading 
armies. A great many villages were destroyed or were 
abandoned by their inhabitants. Much of the soil went out 
of cultivation, while trade and manufacturing nearly dis¬ 
appeared. It took Germany at least one hundred years to 
recover from the injury inflicted by the Thirty Years’ War; 
complete recovery, indeed, came only in the nineteenth 
century. 


660 Reformation and Counter Reformation 


The savagery displayed by the participants in the Thirty 
Years’ War could not but impress thinking men with the 

necessity of formulating rules 
to protect non-combatants, to 
Rise of care f° r prisoners, 

international and to do away 
law (433) w jth pillage and 

massacre. The worst horrors 
of the war had not taken place, 
before a Dutch jurist, named 
Hugo Grotius, published at 
Paris in 1625 a work On the 
Laws of War and Peace. “I 
saw,” wrote Grotius, “prevail¬ 
ing throughout the Christian 
world a license in making war 
of which even barbarous na¬ 
tions would have been ashamed. 

After the portrait by Miervelt of Grotius ReCOUrSe WaS had tO arms for 
at the age of forty-nine. 

slight reasons or no reason; 
and when arms were once taken up, all reverence for divine 
and human law was thrown away, just as if men were hence¬ 
forth authorized to commit all crimes without restraint.” 
The book of Grotius may be said to have founded inter¬ 
national law. Gustavus Adolphus carried a copy about 
with him during his campaigns, and its leading doctrines 
were recognized and acted upon in the Peace of West¬ 
phalia. 

The great principle on which Grotius based his recommen¬ 
dations was the independence of sovereign states. He gave 
The Euro- U P the medieval conception of a temporal and 
pean state spiritual head of Christendom. The nations now 
recognized no common superior, whether emperor 
or pope, but all were equal in the sight of international law. 
The book of Grotius thus marked the profound change which 
had come over Europe since the Middle Ages. 



661 


The Thirty Years’ War 


For Explanation 


Boniface VIII 
Avignon 

Babylonian Captivity 

Great Schism 

Council of Constance 

Albigenses 

Waldenses 

Wycliffe 

Lollards 

Huss 


indulgences 
Ninety-five Theses 
Zwingli 

Catherine of Aragon 
Act of Supremacy 
Book of Common Prayer 
Mary Tudor 
Anglicanism 


Society of Jesus 


Paul III 


Xavier 

Council of Trent 
Index 
Inquisition 
Peace of Augsburg 
Union of Utrecht 
Armada 
Huguenots 
Edict of Nantes 
Peace of Westphalia 


For Discussion 


1. Name three important reasons for the lessened influence of the Roman 
Church at the opening of the sixteenth century. 

2. Explain the difference between heresy and schism. 

3. Why has Wycliffe been called the “morning star of the Reformation”? 

4. Why did the reformers in each country take special pains to translate 
the Bible into the vernacular languages? 

5. “The heroes of the Reformation, judged by modern standards, were 
reactionaries.” What does this statement mean? 

6. Why is the Council of Trent generally considered the most important 
church council since that of Nicaea? 

7. Mention some differences between the Society of Jesus and earlier 
monastic orders. 

8. Compare the Edict of Nantes with the Peace of Augsburg. 

9. Show how political, as well as religious, motives affected the revolt 
of the Netherlands, the Huguenot wars, and the Thirty Years’ War. 

10. How is it true that the Thirty Years’ War was “the last great war of 
religion and the first great war of politics”? 

11. Show that the Holy Roman Empire had become in the seventeenth 
century “neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.” 


For Further Study 


1. Identify the following dates: 1517, 1555, 1588, 1598, and 1648. 

2. Trace the geographical extent of the “Great Schism” (map, page 633). 

3. Prepare an oral report on the cathedral of St. Peter at Rome. If 
possible, show pictures of its exterior and interior. 

4. Indicate the territorial extent of Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Angli¬ 
canism at the end of the sixteenth century (map, page 646). 


662 


Reformation and Counter Reformation 


Supplementary 

Webster, Readings in Early European History, chapter xlvi, “Martin 
Luther and the Beginning of the Reformation”; chapter xlvii, “Eng¬ 
land in the Age of Elizabeth.” 

Webster and Webb, Historical Outline Maps and Exercises: Early Euro¬ 
pean History, No. XXI, Extent of the Reformation (1524-1572); 
No. XXII, Europe at the End of the Thirty Years’ War (1648). 



English Battleship of the Sixteenth Century 


After a manuscript in Magdalen College, Oxford. The Great Harry, built by Henry VIIl 
in 1514, was the first ship known to have been provided with a tier of guns below the 
main deck. 








Part Fill 


EARLY MODERN CIVILIZATION 


(Chapters XXVIII-XXIX) 


The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries may be regarded as 
forming early modern times in Europe. The principal European 
states at this period were absolute, or despotic, monarchies. De¬ 
mocracy was non-existent. The middle and lower classes had no 
real part in law-making and no safeguards against arbitrary rule. 
This kind of government meant that the interests of the monarchs 
were consulted rather than those of their subjects. Chapter 
XXVIII studies absolutism on the Continent, particularly in 
France, Russia, and Prussia, and shows how in England it was 
overthrown and replaced by a limited, or constitutional, monarchy. 
We learn, also, in this chapter how during these centuries there 
arose in England, France, and other countries the reforming 
“philosophers,” who addressed themselves to the task of social 
betterment and tried to improve conditions in both State and 
Church. The new theories of politics, economics, and religion 
which they championed found wide acceptance among the edu¬ 
cated classes, thus providing the intellectual background and 
justification for both the American and French revolutions. 

The expansion of Europe went on rapidly during the seven¬ 
teenth and eighteenth centuries. Portugal and Spain had chiefly 
profited by the earlier geographical discoveries and colonizing 
movements. The decline of these two countries enabled other 
European nations to step into their places as rivals for commerce, 
colonies, and control of the seas. The Dutch were the first in the 
field, followed later by the French and the English. Chapter XXIX 
tells how Great Britain built up a great maritime power and 
acquired an imperial realm in both India and North America. 
As an offset to these gains, she lost the Thirteen Colonies — the 
“one disruption” of her empire. The Thirteen Colonies became 
the United States of America, “a new nation,” as Lincoln said, 
“conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all 
men are created equal.” 




CHAPTER XXVIII 
THE OLD REGIME IN EUROPE 


History seems to indicate that nations for the most part have to undergo 
a period of severe discipline under strong centralized governments; their 
forces have had to be gathered together, international rivalries and dis¬ 
turbances quelled, and foreign enemies subdued or at least driven off, 
before the way was clear for the gradual development of representative 
government. 

— J. E. Gillespie 


214 . Absolutism and the Divine Right of Kings 

Previous chapters have set forth the more significant 
transformations of European society which closed the Mid¬ 
dle Ages and ushered in modern times. The The old 
Renaissance; geographical discovery, explora- Rg g ime 
tion, and colonization; and the Protestant Reformation 
and Catholic Counter Reformation, all helped to complete 
the transition from the medieval to the modern world. 
Much that was medieval survived, however, into the seven¬ 
teenth and eighteenth centuries, especially in political and 
economic life. Absolute monarchies claiming to rule by 
divine right, aristocracies in the possession of privileges and 
honors, the mass of the people excluded from any part of 
the government and burdened with taxes and feudal dues 
— such were some of the survivals of medievalism which 
formed the Old Regime. Let us examine it more closely. 

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries abso¬ 
lutism was as common as democracy is to-day. The rulers 
of Europe, having triumphed over their feudal Kings « by 
nobility, proclaimed themselves to be the sole the grace of 
source of authority. They posed as sovereigns God ” 
who held their power, not by the choice or consent of their 
subjects, but by the “grace of God.” 

665 


666 


The Old Regime in Europe 

Absolutism found support in a very real belief in the 
divinity of kings. The Chinese emperor was the “Son of 
Divinity of Heaven.” The Egyptian Pharaoh was the “Son 
idng s of the Sun.” The Hebrew monarch was the 

Lord’s anointed. The Hellenistic rulers of the Near East 
and the Roman emperors received divine honors from their 
subjects. An element of holiness also attached to medieval 
sovereigns, who at their coronation were anointed with a 
magic oil, girt with a sacred sword, and given a supernatural 
banner. Even Shakespeare could speak of the divinity which 
“doth hedge a king.” 

This conception of the sacred character of royalty gave rise 
to the theory of divine right. Providence, it was argued, 
had really set up the State and placed over it a 
Divine right m j er w h om ft was a religious duty to obey and 

a sin to disobey. The theory of divine right thus con¬ 
trasted sharply with our present-day notions of popular 
sovereignty. 

The general acceptance of absolutism and divine right 
meant that the welfare of the monarchs received far more 
Dynastic attention than that of the peoples over whom 

interests they ruled. The result was that the vanity, self¬ 

ishness, or ambition of individual rulers and dynasties plunged 
Europe into one war after another. When peace came to be 
made, the monarchs paid scant heed to racial limits or na¬ 
tional boundaries, but cut and pared countries “as if they 
were Dutch cheeses.” The idea — now so prevalent — that 
each people should determine its own destiny was then un¬ 
recognized. 

215 . Privileged and Unprivileged Classes 

The feudal system had bequeathed as part of its heritage 
The First 1° early modern Europe a system of class distinc- 
and Second tions which honeycombed society. The highest 
place was occupied by the clergy and nobility, 
who formed the First and Second Estates, respectively. 


Privileged and Unprivileged Classes 667 

These two privileged classes were a very small minority of 
the population in any European country. 

Reverence felt by kings and lords for mother Church had 
endowed her representatives with rich and broad domains. 
In France, Spain, Italy, and those parts of Ger- 
many where Church property had not been con¬ 
fiscated by Protestants, the archbishops, bishops, abbots, 
and cardinals ruled as princes and paid few or no taxes to 
the government. These members of the higher clergy came 
mainly from the noble families and naturally took the side 




Costumes of the French Orders 

After an old print. The cleric wears a robe and ornamented mantle; the noble, a suit 
of black silk and a cap adorned with plumes; the representative of the Third Estate, a 
simple black suit without gold buttons or plumed cap. 

of the absolute monarchs. The lower clergy, the thousands 
of parish priests, who came from the common people, just 
as naturally favored the popular cause. They saw the 
abuses of the existing system and supported the demands 
for its reform. 

Some of the nobles were descendants of the feudal lords 
of the Middle Ages, with proud pedigrees reaching back 
for hundreds of years. Many others had been NobiUty 
ennobled by the king for various services or had 
held certain offices which conferred noble rank. The mem- 




668 


The Old Regime in Europe 

bers of this aristocracy were usually great landed proprietors, 
though without the military obligations which once rested 
on feudal lords. Their “gentle birth’’ enabled them to 
monopolize the important offices in the government, the 
army, and the Church. They were also largely exempt from 
taxation. Those who lived on their country estates often 
took part in local affairs and felt an interest in the welfare 
of the peasantry, but those who led a fashionable existence 
at court, in attendance on the king, were ornamental rather 
than useful. Their luxury, idleness, and dissipation made 
them hateful in the sight of reformers. A critic of the 
French nobility declared, “Through all the vocabulary of 
Adam, there is not such an animal as a duke or a count.” 

Such were the two privileged orders, or estates. Be- 
The Third neath them came the unprivileged order known 
Estate as thg Third Estate. It included the great ma¬ 
jority of the people in every country and consisted of three 
main divisions. 

The middle class, or bourgeoisie (French bourg, “town”), 
included all those who were not manual laborers. It was 
The “ hour- made up of professional men, such as magis- 
geoisie ” trates, lawyers, physicians, and teachers, together 
with bankers, manufacturers, wholesale merchants, and shop¬ 
keepers. The British middle class enjoyed representation in 
Parliament and frequently entered the nobility. The French 
bourgeoisie , on the contrary, could not hold the positions of 
greatest honor in the government. Though well educated 
and often wealthy, they were made to feel in every way 
their inferiority to the nobles. They added their voices, 
therefore, to those who demanded political liberty and social 
equality. 

The next division of the Third Estate comprised the arti¬ 
sans living in the towns and cities. They were not very 
The artisans numer °us, except in Great Britain, France, west¬ 
ern Germany, and northern Italy, where industry 
had reached a much higher development than elsewhere in 
Europe. 


669 


Privileged and Unprivileged Classes 



London Tradesmen 

After a broadside of 1647 in the British Museum, London. 


The craft guilds, so characteristic of city life during the 
Middle Ages (§ 178), had begun to disappear in Great Britain, 
but still kept their importance on the Continent. Survivals of 
Each trade had its own guild, controlling meth- the^uUd 
ods of manufacture, quantity and quality of the sys em 
article produced, wages, hours of labor, and number of work¬ 
men to be employed. The guilds tended more and more to 


























670 


The Old Regime in Europe 

become exclusive organizations. Membership fees were 
raised so high that few could afford to pay them, while the 
number of apprentices that a master might take was strictly 
limited. It also became increasingly difficult for journeymen 
to rise to the station of masters; they often remained wage- 
earners for life. The result was that the mass of artisans no 
longer shared in the benefits of the guild system. They 
therefore opposed it and sought its abolition. 

The last and by far the largest division of the Third Estate 
was that of the peasants. In Prussia, Austria, Hungary, 
^ Poland, Russia, and Spain they were still serfs 

(§ 136). They might not leave their villages or 
marry without their lord’s consent; their children must 
serve in his family for several years at a nominal wage; and 
they themselves had to work for a number of days each 
week on their lord’s land. Conditions were better in Italy 
and western Germany, though it was a Hessian prince who 
hired his subjects to Great Britain to fight as mercenaries 
in the American War of Independence. In France, serfdom 
still existed in only a few provinces. The great majority 
of the French peasants enjoyed complete freedom, and many 
of them owned their own farms. 

Even the free peasants of France carried heavy burdens. 
The king imposed the hated land tax, assessing a certain 
Survivals of amount on each village and requiring the money 
the manorial to be paid whether the inhabitants could afford 
system ft or no t. Still more hated was the forced labor 
exacted by the government from time to time on roads 
and other public works. The clergy demanded tithes, which 
amounted to perhaps a thirteenth of the produce. The 
nobles levied various feudal dues for the use of oven, mill, and 
wine press, and tolls for the use of roads and bridges. The 
game laws were especially vexatious, because farmers were 
obliged to allow the game of neighboring lords to invade 
their fields and destroy the crops. It is not strange that the 
peasants also formed a discontented class, anxious for any 
reforms which would better their hard lot. 


France under Louis XIV 


671 


216. FRANCE UNDER LOUIS XIV 


France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries fur¬ 
nished a good example of an absolute monarchy supported 
by pretensions to divine right. That country Bourbon 
had now come under Bourbon rulers, a dynasty d y nast y 
which began with Henry Bourbon, king of Navarre (§ 212). 
He mounted the French 
throne in 1589 as Henry IV, 
and his descendants 
reigned after him for more 
than two hundred years. 

The third Bourbon, 

Louis XIV (1643-1715), 
whose reign is . 
the longest m 
European history, ranks 
among the most able of 
French monarchs. He was 
a man of handsome pres¬ 
ence, slightly below the 
middle height, with a 
prominent nose and abun¬ 
dant hair, which he allowed 
to fall over his shoulders. 

In manner he was digni¬ 
fied, reserved, courteous, 
and as majestic, it is said, 
in his dressing-gown as in 
his official robes. A con¬ 
temporary wrote that he 
would have been every 
inch a king, “even if he 
had been born under the 
roof of a beggar. ’ ’ Louis possessed much natural intelligence, 
a retentive memory, and great capacity for work. It must 
be added, however, that his general education had been 



Louis XIV as the “Sun King” 

After a drawing made in 1653 for a court ballet 
in which Louis XIV took part. 



672 


The Old Regime in Europe 

neglected, and that throughout his life he remained ignorant 
and superstitious. Vanity formed a striking trait in his 
character. He accepted the most extravagant compliments 
and delighted in being known as the. “Grand Monarch” and 
the “Sun King.” 

Louis gathered around him a magnificent court at Ver¬ 
sailles, near Paris. Here a whole royal city, with palaces, 
Versailles P ar ks, groves, terraces, and fountains, sprang into 
being at his order. The gilded salons and mir¬ 
rored corridors of Versailles were soon crowded with members 
of the nobility. They now spent little time on their estates, 
preferring to remain at Versailles in attendance on the king, 
to whose favor they owed offices, pensions, and honors. 
The splendor of the French court cast its spell upon Europe. 
Every king and prince looked to Louis as the model of what 
a ruler should be and tried to imitate him. The French lan¬ 
guage, manners, dress, art, and literature thus became the 
accepted standards of polite society in all civilized lands. 

Louis, however conscientious and painstaking, necessarily 
had to rely very much upon his ministers, of whom Colbert 
„ was the most eminent. Colbert made many im- 

provements m the methods of tax-collection and 
turned an annual deficit in the revenues into a surplus. He 
also tried to foster manufactures by placing heavy duties on 
the importation of foreign goods. This was the beginning of 
the protective system, since followed by most European 
countries and from Europe introduced into America. Col¬ 
bert regarded protectionism as only a temporary device, 
however, and spoke of tariffs as crutches by the help of 
which manufacturers might learn to walk and then throw 
them away. Finally, Colbert was very successful in provid¬ 
ing the French with colonies, where they could obtain the 
raw materials which they had previously been obliged to 
purchase from the Spaniards, Dutch, and English. Many 
islands in the West Indies were acquired at this time, Canada 
was developed, and Louisiana, the vast territory drained 
by the Mississippi, was opened up to settlement (§227). 


The palace of Versailles now forms a magnificent picture gallery and museum of French history, while the park is a place of holiday resort 
for Parisians. It is estimated that Louis XIV spent one hundred million dollars on the buildings and grounds of Versailles, 


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674 The Old Regime in Europe 

France thus became one of the leading colonial powers of 
Europe. 

The famous saying, “/ am the State,” though not uttered 
by Louis, accurately expressed his conviction that in him were 
French embodied the power and greatness of France, 

absolutism Conditions in that country made possible his 
absolute government. Previous rulers and their ministers 
had labored with success to strengthen the authority of the 
Crown at the expense of the nobles and the commons. There 
was no Parliament to represent the nation and voice its 
demands, for the Estates-General (§ 171) had long since 
ceased to assemble. There was no Magna Carta, as in Eng¬ 
land (§ 168), to protect the liberties of the people by limiting 
the right of a ruler to impose taxes at will. The French, 
furthermore, lacked independent law courts which could 
interfere with the king’s power of exiling, imprisoning, or 
executing his subjects. Absolutism thus became so firmly 
rooted in France that a revolution was necessary to over¬ 
throw it. 

How unwise it may be to center authority in the hands 
of one man is shown by the melancholy record of the wars of 
French Louis XIV. To make France powerful and gain 
militarism f ame f or himself, he plunged his country into a 
series of struggles from which it came out completely ex¬ 
hausted. Louis was served by excellent engineers and com¬ 
manders, who developed siegecraft, improved artillery, and 
recruited, equipped, and provisioned larger bodies of troops 
than had ever before appeared on European battlefields. 
The use of distinctive uniforms for soldiers, the custom of 
marching in step, field hospitals, and ambulances were some 
of the innovations of this time. Louis dreamed of lording over 
all western Europe, but his aggressions provoked against 
him a constantly increasing number of foes, who in the end 
proved to be too strong even for the king’s able generals and 
fine armies. 

Four great wars filled a large part of Louis’s reign. The first 
three were undertaken to extend the dominions of France as 


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676 


The Old Regime in Europe 

far as the Rhine. That river in ancient times had separated 
Gaul and Germany, and Louis regarded it as a “natural 
Alsace and boundary ’ ’ of France. He did secure several strips 
Lorraine 0 f territory to the east and northeast of France, 
particularly Alsace. The Alsatians, though of Germanic 
extraction, in process of time considered themselves French 
and lost all desire for union with any of the German states. 
The greater part of Lorraine was not added to France until 
after the middle of the eighteenth century, during the reign 
of Louis XV. The Lorrainers, likewise, became thoroughly 
French in feeling. 

The fourth great war arose out of dynastic rivalries and 
ambitions. The king of Spain, who lacked children or 
The Spanish brothers to succeed him, bequeathed his vast 
succession dominions in Europe and America to one of 
Louis’s grandsons, in the hope that the French might be 
strong enough to keep them undivided. Louis accepted 
the inheritance and fondly presented his grandson to the 
court at Versailles, saying, “Gentlemen, behold the king of 
Spain.” 

The other European rulers looked with dismay at the 
prospect of so great an enlargement of France. A united 
war of the Franco-Spanish empire would be too strong for 
Spanish its neighbors, would upset the delicately adjusted 
lTO^-mT’ “balance of power” between the various coun¬ 
tries. The result was the War of the Spanish 
Succession, in which France and Spain faced a Grand Alliance 
of England, Austria, Holland, Portugal, and several of the 
German principalities. Europe had never known before a 
war that concerned so many states and peoples. England 
supplied the coalition with money, a fleet, and also with the 
ablest commander of the age, the duke of Marlborough. 
His famous victory at Blenheim in Bavaria (1704) was the 
first of a series of successes which finally drove the French 
out of Germany and opened the road to Paris. Dissensions 
among the Allies and the heroic resistance of France and 
Spain enabled Louis to hold the enemy at bay until the 


Russia under Peter the Great 677 

exhaustion of both sides led to the conclusion of the Peace 
of Utrecht. 

This peace ranks with that of Westphalia (§213) among 
the most important diplomatic arrangements of modern 
times. First, Louis’s grandson was recognized as Peace of 
king of Spain and her colonies, on condition that Utrecht, 1713 
the Spanish and French Crowns should never be united. 
After this time Bourbon sovereigns continued to rule in 
Spain. Next, the Austrian Hapsburgs gained most of the 
Spanish dominions in Italy, as well as the Belgian or Spanish 
Netherlands (henceforth for a century called the Austrian 
Netherlands). Finally, England obtained from France cer¬ 
tain possessions in North America (§ 229) and from Spain 
the island of Minorca and the Rock of Gibraltar, command¬ 
ing the narrow entrance to the Mediterranean. 

France lost far less by the war than at one time seemed 
probable. Louis gave up his dream of dominating western 
Europe, but he kept all the Continental acquisi- position of 
tions made earlier in his reign. Nevertheless, the France 
cost of the king’s warlike policy had been a heavy one. 
France paid it in the shape of famine and pestilence, excessive 
taxes, heavy debts, and the impoverishment of the people. 
Louis, now a very old man, survived the Peace of Utrecht 
only two years. As he lay dying, he turned to his little heir 
(his great-grandson, Louis XV) and said: “Try to keep 
peace with your neighbors. I have been too fond of war; 
do not imitate me in that, nor in my too great expenditure.” 

217. Russia under Peter the Great 

The Russians at the opening of modem times seemed to 
be an Asiatic rather than a European people. Their con¬ 
quest by the Mongols (§ 163) during the thir- Romanov 
teenth century had isolated them from their d y nast y 
Christian neighbors and had interrupted the stream of 
civilizing influences which in earlier days flowed into Russia 
from the Byzantine' Empire (§ 161). Long after the expul- 


678 


The Old Regime in Europe 

sion of the Mongols, the Russians remained very backward. 
Most of them were ignorant, superstitious peasants, who 
led secluded lives in small farming villages scattered over 
the plains and throughout the forests. Even the inhabitants 
of the towns lacked the education and enlightened manners 



of the Western peoples, whose ways they disliked and whose 
religion, whether Protestantism or Catholicism, they con¬ 
demned as heretical. Russia, in short, needed to be Euro¬ 
peanized, and Europe also needed to be introduced to Russia. 
This formed the special work of the Romanovs, a dynasty 
that began in 1613 with Michael Romanov. The family 
























Russia under Peter the Great 


679 


of tsars descended from him occupied the Russian throne 
until our own day. His grandson was the celebrated Peter 
the Great (1689-1725). 

Peter became sole ruler when only seventeen years of age. 
An English contemporary, who knew him well, described him 
as “ a man of very hot temper, soon inflamed, and Peter the 
very brutal in his passion/’ After a mutiny of his Great 
bodyguard, he edified the court by himself slicing off the 
heads of the culprits. In order to quell opposition in his 
family, he had his wife 
whipped with the knout 
and ordered his own son to 
be tortured and executed. 

He was coarse, gluttonous, 
and utterly without per¬ 
sonal dignity. Yet Peter 
could often be frank and 
good-humored, and he was 
as loyal to his friends as he 
was treacherous to his foes. 

At heart, too, he was deeply 
religious, for he believed 
himself to be an instrument 
for good in the hands of 
God. Few men have done 
more than Peter to change 
the course of history, and 
few, indeed, have better deserved the title of “the Great.” 

Peter began his work as a reformer by sending fifty young 
Russians of the best families to Venice, Holland, and Eng¬ 
land to absorb all they could of European ideas. Europeaniza- 
He afterward came in person, traveling incognito tion of Russia 
as “Peter Mikhailov” and making himself familiar with the 
arts and customs of western Europe. These he proceeded to 
introduce into Russia. The long Asiatic robes of Russian 
nobles had to give way to short German jackets and hose. 
Long beards, which the people considered sacred, had to be 



Peter the Great 





680 The Old Regime in Europe 

shaved, or else a tax paid for the privilege of wearing one. 
Women, previously kept in seclusion, were permitted to 
appear in public without veils and to mingle at dances and 
entertainments with men. A Russian order of chivalry was 
founded. The Bible was translated into the language of the 
people and sold at popular prices. Peter adopted the “Julian 
Calendar,” in place of the old Russian calendar, which began 
the year on the first of September, supposed to be the date 

of the creation. He also 
improved the Russian al¬ 
phabet by omitting some 
of its cumbersome letters 
and by simplifying others. 
Such changes were ac¬ 
cepted only by the upper 
classes. The peasants 
clung to their old ways and 
remained little affected by 
the sudden onrush of Euro¬ 
pean ideas and manners. 

Peter found in Russia no 
regular army; he organ¬ 
ized one after the German 
fashion. The soldiers (ex¬ 
cept the mounted warriors 
known as Cossacks) were 
uniformed and armed like 
European troops. He found no fleet; he built one, modeled 
upon that of Holland. He opened mines, cut canals, laid out 
Recon- roads, introduced sheep-breeding, and fostered by 
struction of protective tariffs the growth of silk and woolen 

Russia 1 ° 

manufactures. He instituted a police system and 
a postal service. He established schools of medicine, engi¬ 
neering, and navigation, as well as those of lower grade. He 
also framed a code of laws based upon the legal systems of 
western Europe. 

The remaking of Russia according to European models 






Austria and Maria Theresa 


681 


formed only half of Peter’s program. His foreign policy was 
equally ambitious. He realized that Russia needed readier 
access to the sea than could be found through (st.) Peters- 
the Arctic port of Archangel. Peter made little burg 
headway against the Turks, who controlled the Black 
Sea, but twenty years of intermittent warfare with the 
Swedes enabled him to acquire the Swedish provinces on the 
eastern shore of the Baltic. Here in the swamps of the river 
Neva, not far from the Gulf of Finland, Peter built a new 
and splendid capital, giving it the German name of (St.) 
Petersburg (now Leningrad). He had at last realized his 
long-cherished dream of opening a “window” through which 
the Russian people might look into Europe. 



218. Austria and Maria Theresa 

The Austrian dynasty of the Hapsburgs (§ 174) ruled over 
the most extraordinary jumble of peoples to be found in 
Europe. There were Germans in Austria proper and Silesia; 






682 The Old Regime in Europe 


Czechs in Bohemia and Moravia; Magyars, Slovaks, Ru¬ 
manians, Croatians, and Slovenians in Hungary and its de- 
Hapsburg pendencies; Italians in Milan and Tuscany; and 
dynasty Flemings and Walloons in the Netherlands. It 
was impossible to group such widely scattered peoples into one 
centralized state or to form them into a federation. Their 
sole bond of union was a common allegiance to the Hapsburg 
monarch. 

The Hapsburg realm threatened to break up in the eight¬ 
eenth century upon the death of the emperor Charles VI, who 

lacked male heirs. Charles, 
however, had made a so- 
The called Prag- 

Pragmatic matic Sanction, 

Sanction Qr so j emn com _ 

pact, declaring his domin¬ 
ions to be indivisible and 
leaving them to his eldest 
daughter, Maria Theresa. 
Most of the European 
powers pledged themselves 
by treaty to observe this 
arrangement. 

The emperor died in 
1740 and Maria Theresa 
became archduchess of 
Austria, queen of Hungary, 
queen of Bohemia, and 
sovereign of all the other 
Hapsburg lands. She was then only twenty-three years old, 
strikingly handsome, and gifted with much charm of manner. 
Maria Her youth, her beauty, and her sex might have 

Theresa entitled her to consideration by those states which 

had agreed to respect the Pragmatic Sanction. This was 
a paper bulwark, however, and more than that was required 
to safeguard the Austrian territories against Prussia and 
Prussia’s allies. 


Maria Theresa at the Age 
of Three 


Prussia and Frederick the Great 


683 


219. Prussia and Frederick the Great 

Prussia, the nucleus of modern Germany, was the possession 
of the Hohenzollerns. Their name is derived from that of 
their castle on the heights of Zollern in southern Hohenzollern 
Germany. The Hohenzollerns prided themselves d y nasty 
on the fact that almost every member of the family enlarged 
the territories received from his ancestors. They did this by 
purchase, by inheritance, by shrewd diplomacy, and some¬ 
times by hard fighting. When Frederick the Great (1740- 
1786) mounted the throne, their dominions included the 
mark of Brandenburg, which had formed in the Middle Ages 
a Germany colony beyond the Elbe; Pomerania; and East 
Prussia, along the Baltic coast east of the Vistula. There 
were also smaller Hohenzollern territories in central and 
western Germany. 

Only a strong hand could hold together the scattered pos¬ 
sessions of the Hohenzollerns. Their hand was strong. No 
monarchs of the age exercised more unlimited Prussian 
authority or required more complete obedience absolutism 
from their subj ects. According to the Hohenzollern principle, 
the government could not be too absolute, provided it was 
efficient. The ruler, working through his ministers, who were 
merely his clerks, must foster agriculture, industry, and com¬ 
merce, promote education, and act as the guide of his people 
in religion and morals. 

The Hohenzollerns devoted themselves consistently to the 
upbuilding of their military forces. They wanted an army 
powerful enough to defend a kingdom without Prussian 
natural boundaries and stretching in detached militarism 
provinces all the way from the Rhine to the Niemen. The 
soldiers at first were volunteers, recruited in different parts of 
Germany, but it became necessary to fill up the gaps in the 
ranks by compulsory levies among the peasants. Carefully 
trained officers, appointed from the nobility and advanced 
only on merit, enforced an iron discipline. The soldiers, it was 
said, feared their commanders more than they did the enemy. 


684 


The Old Regime in Europe 


Succession, 

1740-1748 


Frederick the Great became king at the age of twenty- 
eight. He was rather below the average height and inclined 
Frederick to stoutness, good looking, with the fair hair of 
the Great North Germans and blue-gray eyes of extraor¬ 
dinary brilliancy. By nature he seems to have been thor¬ 
oughly selfish, unsympathetic, and crafty. He was not a 
man to inspire affection among his intimates, but with the 
mass of his subjects he was undeniably popular. Innu¬ 
merable stories circulated 
in Prussia about the sim¬ 
plicity, good humor, and 
devotion to duty of old 
“Father Fritz.” 

The year of Frederick’s 
accession saw the beginning 

war Che °f a great Eu- 
Austrian ropean war. 

The responsi¬ 
bility for it 
rests on his shoulders. The 
Prussian king coveted Si¬ 
lesia, an Austrian province 
lying south of Branden¬ 
burg and mainly German 
in population. Frederick 
suddenly led his army into 
Silesia and overran the 
country without much diffi¬ 
culty. It was sheer rob¬ 
bery, without a shadow of j ustification. As the king afterward 
confessed in his Memoirs, “Ambition, interest, and desire 
of making people talk about me carried the day; and I 
decided for war.” Frederick’s action brought on a general 
European conflict. France, Spain, and Bavaria allied them¬ 
selves with Prussia, while Great Britain and Holland, anxious 
to preserve the balance of power, took the side of Austria. 
Things might have gone hard with Maria Theresa but for the 



Frederick the Great 

After a painting by H. Pataky. 












Prussia and Frederick the Great 


685 


courage and energy which she displayed and the support of 
her Hungarian subjects. All the warring countries finally 
agreed to a mutual restoration of conquests (with the ex¬ 
ception of Silesia) and signed the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. 

Maria Theresa still hoped to recover her lost province. As 
most of the European sovereigns were either afraid or jealous 
of Frederick, she found no great difficulty in SeV en Years’ 
forming a coalition against him. Russia, France, war, 1756 - 
Sweden, and Saxony entered it. Most of the 1763 
Continent thus united in arms to dismember the small Prus¬ 
sian state. It happened, however, that at the head of this 
small state was a man of military genius, capable of infusing 
into others his own undaunted spirit, and supported by sub¬ 
jects disciplined, patient, and loyal. Furthermore, Great 
Britain was this time an ally of Prussia. British gold sub¬ 
sidized the Prussian armies, and British troops, by fighting 
the French in Germany, India, and America, weakened 
Prussia’s most dangerous enemy. Frederick conducted a 
purely defensive warfare, thrusting now here and now there 
against his slower-moving foes, who never learned to act in 
concert and exert their full force simultaneously. Even so, 
the struggle was desperately unequal. The Russians oc¬ 
cupied East Prussia, penetrated Brandenburg, and captured 
Berlin. Faced by the gradual wearing down of his armies, 
an empty treasury, and an impoverished country, Frederick 
more than once thought of committing suicide. What saved 
him was the accession of a new tsar. This ruler happened 
to be a warm admirer of the Prussian king and at once 
withdrew from the war. Maria Theresa, deprived of her 
eastern ally, now had to come to terms and leave Frederick 
in secure possession of Silesia. Soon afterward the Peace of 
Paris between France and Great Britain brought the Seven 
Years’ War to an end. 

This most bloody contest, which cost the lives of nearly a 
million men, seemed to settle little or nothing except the pos¬ 
session of Silesia. Yet the Seven Years’ War really marks 
an epoch in the political history of Europe. The young 


68 6 


The Old Regime in Europe 

Prussian kingdom appeared henceforth as one of the great 
powers of the Continent and as the only rival in Germany 
Position of the old Hapsburg monarchy. It was inevitable 
of Prussia from this time that Prussia and Austria should 
struggle for supremacy, and that the smaller German states 
should group themselves around one or the other. Frederick, 
like all the Hohenzollerns, fought simply for Prussia, but 
the results of his work were disclosed a century later when 
the German Empire came into being. 

220. The Puritan Revolution in England 

When absolutism prevailed, everything depended upon the 
personal character of the sovereign. A Peter the Great might 
Two revoiu- set ^ s country upon the road to civilization; a 
tionsin Louis XIV, on the contrary, might plunge his 
people into misery as the result of needless wars 
and extravagant expenditures. As time went on, it began 
to seem more and more unreasonable that a single person 
should have the power to make the laws, levy the taxes, 
spend the revenues, declare war, and conclude peace accord¬ 
ing to his own inclination. During the seventeenth century 
two revolutions overthrew absolutism in England and re¬ 
placed it with a monarchy controlled by Parliament. We 
shall now learn how the English people, as represented in 
Parliament, became more powerful than their kings. 

Absolutism in England dated from the time of the Tudors 
(§ 172). Henry VII humbled the nobles, while Henry VIII 
Tudor abso- and Elizabeth brought the Church into depend- 
lutism ence on the Crown. These three sovereigns, 

though despotic, were excellent rulers and were popular with 
the influential middle class in town and country. The Tudors 
gave England order, and prosperity, if not political liberty. 

The English Parliament during the later Middle Ages had 
become a body representative of the different estates of the 
realm and had separated into the two Houses of Lords and 
Commons (§ 169). Parliament enjoyed considerable author- 


The Puritan Revolution in England 687 


ity at this time. The kings, who were in continual need 
of money, often summoned it, sought its advice upon im¬ 
portant questions, and readily listened to its re- p ar ii ame nt 
quests. The despotic Tudors, on the other hand, under the 
made Parliament their servant. Henry VII u ors 
called it together on only five occasions during his reign; 
Henry VIII persuaded or frightened it into doing anything 
he pleased; and Elizabeth consulted it as infrequently as 
possible. Parliament under the Tudors did not abandon its 
claims to a share in the government, but it had little chance 
of exercising them. 

The death of Elizabeth in 1603 ended the Tudor dynasty 
and placed James I (James VI of Scotland) on the English 
throne. He was the first 
king of the Stuart dynasty. 

England and James I and 
Scotland were Parliament 
now joined in a personal 
union, though each coun¬ 
try kept its own legisla¬ 
ture, laws, and established 
Church. The unmistaka¬ 
ble purpose of James to 
rule as an absolute monarch aroused much opposition in Par¬ 
liament. That body felt little sympathy with a king who 
proclaimed himself the source of all authority. When James, 
always extravagant and a poor financier, came before it for 
money, Parliament refused to give him any unless grievances 
were redressed. James would not yield, but got along as 
best he could by levying tariffs on imports, selling titles of 
nobility, and imposing excessive fines, in spite of the protests 



Gold Coin of James I 

The first coin to bear the legend 
“Great Britain.” 


of Parliament. . 

A religious controversy helped to embitter the dispute 
between James and Parliament. The king, who was a de¬ 
vout Anglican, made himself very unpopular with Puritanism 
the Puritans, as the reformers within the Church 
of England were called. The Puritans had at first no in- 



688 The Old Regime in Europe 

tention of separating from the national or established Church, 
but they wished to “purify” it of certain customs which 
they described as “Romish.” Among these were the use of 

the surplice, of the 
ring in the marriage 
service, and of the 
sign of the cross in 
baptism. Some Puri¬ 
tans wanted to get rid 
of the Book of Common 
Prayer (§ 209) alto¬ 
gether. Since the 
Puritans had a large 
majority in the House 
of Commons, it was 
inevitable that the 
parliamentary struggle 
against Stuart absolutism should assume in part a religious 
character. 

The political and religious difficulties which marked the 
reign of James I did not disappear when his son, Charles I, 
Charles i and came to the throne. Charles was a true Stuart in 
Parliament his devotion to absolutism and divine right. Al¬ 
most immediately he began to quarrel with Parliament. 
When that body withheld supplies, he resorted to forced 
loans from the wealthy and even imprisoned a number of per¬ 
sons who refused to contribute. Such arbitrary acts showed 
plainly that he would play the tyrant if he could. 

The king’s attitude at last led Parliament to a bold as¬ 
sertion of its authority. It now presented to Charles the 
Petition of celebrated Petition of Right. One of the most 
Right, 1628 important clauses provided that loans without 
parliamentary approval should be considered 
illegal. Another clause declared that no one should be ar¬ 
rested or imprisoned except according to the law of the land. 
The Petition thus repeated and reinforced some of the leading 
principles of Magna Carta (§ 168). The people of England, 












The Puritan Revolution in England 689 

speaking this time through their elected representatives, 
asserted once more their right to limit the power of kings. 

Charles accepted the Petition, as the only means of securing 
parliamentary consent to taxation, but he had no intention 
of observing it. For many years, in fact, he personal rule 
managed to rule without calling Parliament in of Charles 1 
session. Arbitrary courts, which tried cases without a jury, 
punished those who resisted the royal will. A rigid censor¬ 
ship of the press prevented any expression of popular discon¬ 
tent. Public meetings were sup¬ 
pressed as seditious riots. Even pri¬ 
vate gatherings were dangerous, for 
the king had swarms of spies to re¬ 
port disloyal acts or utterances. 

The personal rule of Charles I, 
coupled with his harsh treatment of 
the Puritans, at length 0utbreakof 
provoked a revolution the Puritan 
and civil war in Eng- Ration, 
land. Around the king 
rallied nearly all the nobles, the 
Anglican clergy, the Roman Catho¬ 
lics, a majority of the “squires,” 
or country gentry, and the upper 
classes generally. The royalists 
received the name of “Cavaliers.” 

The parliamentarians, who opposed the king, were popularly 
called “Roundheads,” because some of them wore closely 
cropped hair. They were mostly recruited from the trading 
classes in the towns and the small landowners in the country. 
The working people remained as a rule indifferent and took 
little part in the struggle. 

Fortune favored the royalists until Oliver Cromwell assumed 
command of the parliamentary forces. A country gentle¬ 
man from the east of England, Cromwell had Oliver 
represented the University of Cambridge in Par- Cromwe11 
liament and had there displayed great boldness in opposing 



Oliver Cromwell 

A painting by Robert Walker, in the 
National Portrait Gallery, London. 





690 


The Old Regime in Europe 


the royal government. An unfriendly critic at this time 
describes “his countenance swollen and reddish, his voice 
sharp and untuneable, and his eloquence full of fervor.” 
Though a zealous Puritan, who believed himself to be the 
chosen agent of the Lord, Cromwell was not an ascetic. He 


<y/rwi 





Specimen of Cromwell’s Handwriting 


hunted, hawked, played bowls and other games, had an ear 
for music, and valued art and learning. In public life he 
showed himself a statesman and a military genius. Crom¬ 
well’s decisive victories resulted in the collapse of the royalist 
cause and the triumph of the parliamentarians. 

Charles was now brought for trial before a High Court of 
Justice composed of his bitterest enemies. He refused to 
Execution of acknowledge the right of the court to try him and 
Charles i, made no defense whatever. He was speedily 
convicted and sentenced to be beheaded, “as a 
tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy to the good of the 
people.” The king met death with quiet dignity on a scaf¬ 
fold erected in front of Whitehall Palace in London. His 
execution went far beyond the wishes of most Englishmen; 
“cruel necessity” formed its only justification; but it es¬ 
tablished once for all in England the principle that rulers 
are responsible to their subjects. 

Sweeping changes in the government of England followed 
the execution of Charles I. The kingship and the House of 
The common- L° r ds were abolished, and the House of Com- 
weaith and the mons was placed in sole control of legislation. 

ro ec ora e E n gj anc i now became a Commonwealth, or na¬ 
tional republic. This lasted only a short time and then gave 
way to the military dictatorship of Cromwell. He was 
really as powerful as any English king, but his reluctance to 
play the autocrat led him to accept a so-called Instrument of 


The Puritan Revolution in England 691 

Government drawn up by some of his officers, and notable 
as the only written constitution which England has ever had. 
It provided that Cromwell should be Lord Protector for 
life, with the assistance of a Council and a Parliament. 
Cromwell ruled well for five years, but his death in 1658 
left the army without a master and the nation without a 



Great Seal of England under the Commonwealth (Reduced) 

The reverse represents the House of Commons in session. 


strong man at the head of affairs. Two years later Parliament 
called the eldest son of Charles I to the throne of his father. 

It seemed, indeed, as if the Puritan Revolution had been 
a complete failure. This was hardly true. The significance 
revolution arrested the growth of absolutism of the Puritan 
and divine right in England. It created among Revolutlon 
Englishmen a lasting hostility to despotic rule, whether exer- 
















692 


The Old Regime in Europe 

cised by King, Parliament, Protector, or army. Further¬ 
more, it sent forth into the world ideas of popular govern¬ 
ment, which, during the eighteenth century, helped to 
produce the American and French revolutions. 

221. The “Glorious Revolution” in England 

Charles II pledged himself to maintain Magna Carta, the 
Petition of Right, and various statutes limiting the royal 
Reign of power. The people of England wished to have a 

Charles ii king, but they also wished their king to govern 
by the advice of Parliament. Charles, less obstinate and 
more clever than his father, recognized this fact, and, when 
a conflict threatened with his ministers or Parliament, always 

avoided it by timely con¬ 
cessions. Whatever hap¬ 
pened, he used to say, he 
was resolved “never to set 
out on his travels again.” 
Charles’s charm of man¬ 
ner, wit, and genial humor 
Silver Coin of Charles ii made him a popular mon¬ 
arch, in spite of his grave 
faults of character. He was a king who “never said a foolish 
thing nor ever did a wise one.” 

One of the most important events belonging to the reign 
of Charles II was the passage by Parliament of the Habeas 
Habeas Corpus Act. The writ of habeas corpus is an 

corpus Act, order, issued by a judge, requiring a person 
1679 (392) held j n custody to be brought before the court. 
If upon examination good reason is shown for keeping the 
prisoner, he is to be given a trial; otherwise he must either 
be freed or released on bail. This writ had been long used 
in England, and one of the clauses of Magna Carta expressly 
provided against arbitrary imprisonment. It had always 
been possible, however, for the king or his ministers to order 
the arrest of a person considered dangerous to the State, 



The “Glorious Revolution” in England 693 

without making any formal charge against him. The Habeas 
Corpus Act established the principle that every man, not 
charged with or convicted of a known crime, is entitled to 
his liberty. Most of the British possessions where the Com¬ 
mon Law prevails have accepted the Act, and it has been 
adopted by the United States. 

The reign of Charles II also saw the beginning of the 
modern party system in Parliament. Two opposing parties 
took shape, very largely out of a religious con- whigs and 
troversy. The king, from his long life in France, Tories 
was partial to Roman Catholicism, though he did not for¬ 
mally embrace that faith until the moment of death. His 
brother James, the heir to the throne, became an avowed 
Roman Catholic, much to the disgust of many members of 
Parliament. A bill was now brought forward to exclude 
Prince James from the succession because of his conversion. 
Its supporters received the nickname of Whigs, while those 
who opposed it were called Tories. The bill did not pass the 
House of Lords, but the two parties in Parliament continued 
to divide on other questions. They survive to-day as the 
Liberals and the Conservatives in English politics. 

James II lacked the attractive personality which had made 
his brother a popular ruler; moreover, he was a staunch be¬ 
liever in the divine right of kings. James soon Reign of 
managed to make enemies of most of his Protes- J ames 11 
tant subjects by “suspending” the laws against Roman 
Catholics and by appointing them to positions of authority 
and influence. He also dismissed Parliament. Englishmen 
might have tolerated James to the end of his reign (he was 
then nearing sixty), in the hope that he would be succeeded 
by his Protestant daughter Mary. The birth in 1688 of a 
son to his Roman Catholic second wife changed the whole 
situation by opening up the prospect of a Roman Catho¬ 
lic succession to the throne. At last a number of Whig 
and Tory leaders invited Mary’s husband, William Prince 
of Orange, to come over from Holland and rescue Eng¬ 
land from Stuart despotism. He was a descendant of that 


694 


The Old Regime in Europe 

William the Silent who, a century before, had saved the 
Dutch out of the hands of Spain (§ 212). 

William landed in England with a small army and marched 
unopposed to London. James II, deserted by his retainers 
Accession an d soldiers, soon found himself alone. He fled 
of william to France, where he lived henceforth as a pen- 
and Mary s j oner a t the French court. Parliament granted 
the throne conjointly to William and Mary. Should they 
have no children, the throne was to go to Mary’s sister Anne. 



Canvassing for Votes 

One of Hogarth’s Election Prints, made in 1757. The scene is laid before an inn. The 
landlord in the middle foreground is seen contending with an officer of the Crown for the 
vote of a newly arrived farmer, who slyly takes bribes from both. 

Parliament took care to continue its own authority and the 
Protestant religion by enacting the Bill of Rights, which has a 
The Bin of place by the side of Magna Carta and the Peti- 

Rights, 1689 tion of Right among the great documents of Eng¬ 
lish constitutional history. This measure decreed 
that the sovereign must henceforth be a member of the An- 







The “Glorious Revolution” in England 695 

glican Church. It forbade him to “suspend ” the operation of 
the laws, to levy money, or to maintain a standing army ex¬ 
cept by consent of Parliament. It also declared that election 
of members of Parliament should be free; that they should 
enjoy freedom of speech and action within the two Houses; 
and that excessive bail should not be required, or excessive 
fines imposed, or cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 
Finally, it affirmed the right of subjects to petition the 
sovereign and ordered the holding of frequent Parliaments. 
These were not new principles of political liberty, but now 
the English people were strong enough to give them the bind¬ 
ing form of laws. They reappear in the first ten Amend¬ 
ments to the Constitution of the United States (§231). 

The Revolution of 1688-1689, which is often described as 
the “Glorious Revolution/' thus struck another blow at abso¬ 
lutism and divine right in England. An English The „ Glori _ 
king became henceforth the servant of Parlia- ousRevoiu- 
ment, holding office only on good behavior. An tlon 
Act of Parliament had made him, and an Act of Parliament 
might depose him. England now had a limited monarchy; 
that is, a monarchy limited by the authority of Parliament. 
It is well to remember, however, that the Revolution did 
not form a popular movement. It was a successful struggle 
for parliamentary supremacy on the part of the upper classes. 
The government of England still remained far removed from 
democracy. 

The supremacy won by Parliament was safeguarded, a few 
years later, by the passage of the Act of Settlement. It pro¬ 
vided that in case William III or his sister-in-law Act of 
Anne died without heirs, the Crown should pass to Settlement, 
Sophia, electress of Hanover, and her descend- 1701 (395) 
ants. She was the granddaughter of James I and a Protes¬ 
tant. This arrangement deliberately excluded a number of 
nearer representatives of the Stuart line from the succession 
because they were Roman Catholics. Parliament thus as¬ 
serted in the strongest way the right of the English people 
to choose their own rulers. 


696 


The Old Regime in Europe 

Queen Anne died in 1714, and in accordance with the Act 
of Settlement, George I, the son of Sophia of Hanover, as- 
Hanoverian cended the throne. He was the first king of the 
dynasty Hanoverian dynasty, which has since continued 
to reign in Great Britain. In 1917 the official name of the 
English ruling family was changed to “House of Windsor.” 

During the reign of George I and his successors in the 
eighteenth century the Cabinet system took very much its 
The cabinet present form. The Cabinet consists of a small 
system number of ministers, who sit in Parliament and 
form what is really a parliamentary committee. This body 
received its name because it met, not in the larger council 
chamber, but in a “cabinet,” or smaller room, apart. The 
rise of political parties made it desirable for the king to 
select all his Cabinet ministers from that party — either 
Whigs or Tories — which had a majority in the House of 
Commons, for otherwise the royal measures were likely to 
meet opposition. William III and Anne always attended 
Cabinet meetings. George I did not do so because, being 
a German, he could neither understand nor be understood 
in the deliberations. Since this time the British sovereign 
has not been a member of the Cabinet. His place is taken 
by the prime minister, or premier. 

222. The Reforming “Philosophers” 

The abuses of the Old Regime were not greater in the 
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries than for hundreds of 
The reform years before, but now they were to be seriously 
movement attacked by thinkers — the so-called “philoso¬ 
phers”— who applied the test of reasonableness to every 
human practice and institution. They felt that the time 
had come when mankind might well discard many ideas 
and customs, once serviceable perhaps, but now outworn. 
To them the chief obstacle in the way of progress seemed to 
be human ignorance, prejudice, and excessive regard for the 
past. Systematic and accurate knowledge, they believed, 


697 


The Reforming “Philosophers” 

would destroy this attachment to the “good old days” and 
would make it possible to create more reasonable and 
enlightened ways of living. These thinkers thus began a 
reform movement in European society. 

How the reform movement affected political thought is 
well shown in the case of John Locke, an eminent English 
“philosopher.” In his Two Treatises on Govern- JohnLocke 
ment, published shortly after the “Glorious Rev¬ 
olution,” he developed a theory of government utterly op¬ 
posed to the old idea of the divine right of kings. Accord¬ 
ing to Locke, all men possess certain natural rights to life, 
liberty, and the ownership of property. To preserve these 
rights they have entered into a contract with one another, 
agreeing that the majority shall have power to make and 
execute all necessary laws. If the government, thus created, 
breaks the contract by violating man’s natural rights, it has 
no longer any claim to the obedience of its subjects and may 
be overthrown by them. To say that all government exists, 
or should exist, by the consent of the governed is to set up 
the doctrine of popular sovereignty. The American colonists 
in their controversy with George III and his ministers upheld 
this doctrine, and there are passages in the Declaration of 
Independence which reproduce the very words of Locke and 
other English writers (§ 230). But their ideas found the 
heartiest reception in France. Enlightened members of the 
nobility and bourgeoisie , weary of royal despotism, took 
them up and spread them among the people. 

France during the eighteenth century had not been able to 
keep the high position among European states to which she 
had been raised by Louis XIV, and in the struggle Inte iiectuai 
for colonial empire she had been defeated by leadership 
Great Britain (§§ 226, 229). Her intellectual ofFrance 
leadership helped to make up for what she had lost. Through¬ 
out this century she gave birth to a succession of “philos¬ 
ophers,” whose ideas fell like rain upon the parched soil of 
the Old Regime. Some of them had lived for a time in Great 
Britain as refugees from the persecution which too bold 


698 


The Old Regime in Europe 


thinking involved at home. Their life there made them ac¬ 
quainted with the British system of limited monarchy and 
parliamentary control of legislation. They wished to secure 
for France and other Continental countries at least an equal 
measure of political liberty. 

A nobleman, lawyer, and judge, Montesquieu, spent twenty 
years in composing a single book, the Spirit of Laws. 

It is a classic in political science. There was 
Montesquieu no1: ^ n g revolutionary in Montesquieu’s conclu¬ 
sions. He examined each form of government in order to 
determine its excellencies and defects. The British constitu¬ 
tion seemed to him most admirable,, 
as combining the virtues of mon¬ 
archy, aristocracy, and democracy. 
Montesquieu especially insisted 
upon the necessity of separating 
the executive, legislative, and judi¬ 
cial functions of government, in¬ 
stead of combining them in the 
person of a single ruler. This idea 
influenced the French revolution¬ 
ists and also had great weight with 
the framers of the Constitution 
of the United States. 

The foremost figure among the 
French “philosophers” was Vol¬ 
taire, who sprang from the bourgeoisie. For more than half 
a century he poured forth a succession of poems, dramas, 
essays, biographies, histories, and other works, 
so clearly written, so witty, and so sensible as 
to win the applause of his contemporaries. He was in no 
sense a revolutionist, for he favored reform by royal decree as 
being the simplest and quickest method. Voltaire did not 
confine his criticisms of the Old Regime to politics; he also 
condemned in unsparing terms the religious intolerance of 
the age. “Since we are all steeped in error and folly,” he 
said, “we must forgive each other our follies.” 



Voltaire 

A statue by J. A. Houdon in the 
Comedie Francaise, Paris. 


The Reforming “Philosophers’ 


699 


If Voltaire was the destroyer of the old, Rousseau was the 
prophet of the new. This son of a Geneva watchmaker, who 
wandered from one European capital to another, 
made a failure of everything he undertook and Rousseau 
died poverty-stricken and demented. The discouragements 
and miseries of his career found expression in what he wrote. 
Rousseau felt only contempt for the boasted civilization of 
the age. He loved to picture what he supposed was once the 
“state of nature,” before governments had arisen, before the 
strong had begun to oppress the weak, 
when nobody owned the land, and when 
there were no taxes and no wars. “Back 
to nature” was Rousseau’s cry. 

Such fancies Rousseau applied to poli¬ 
tics in what was his most important book, 
the Social Contract. Starting The « Social 
with the statement that “man Contract,” 
was born free and everywhere 1762 
he is in chains,” he went on to describe 
a purely ideal state of society in which the 
citizens are ruled neither by kings nor 
parliaments, but themselves make the laws 
directly. The only way to reform the 
world, according to Rousseau, was to re¬ 
store the sovereignty of the people, with 
“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” for all. 

As we have just learned, the idea that governments and 
laws arise by voluntary agreements among men, who may 
overthrow them when necessary, was not new; but Rous¬ 
seau first made it widely popular. His countrymen read 
the Social Contract with intense interest, and during the 
French Revolution they proceeded to put its democratic 
teachings into effect. 

Rousseau, Voltaire, and Montesquieu were among the con¬ 
tributors to the famous Encyclopedia , a work in seventeen 
volumes, which appeared after the middle of the eighteenth 
century. It formed a storehouse of all the scientific and his- 



Rousseau 

A bust by J. A. Houdon 
in the Louvre, Paris. 




700 


The Old Regime in Europe 

torical knowledge of the age. The Encyclopedists, as its 
editors are known, sought to guide opinion as well as to 
The En- give information. They were radical reformers, 
cyciopedists w ho combined in a great effort to throw the light 
of reason on the dark places of the social order. Among the 
abuses attacked by them were religious intolerance, the slave 
trade, the cruel criminal law, and the unjust system of taxa¬ 
tion. The Encyclopedists even ventured to criticize absolut¬ 
ism in government. Their work thus set in motion a current 
of revolt which did much to undermine the established order 
in France and other countries. 

223. The “Enlightened Despots” 

The ideas of the “philosophers” spread throughout those 
parts of Europe where French models were followed. Even 

Paternalism kin £ s and statesmen began to be affected by the 
spirit of reform. European rulers did not intend 
to surrender the least fraction of absolute power; they were 
still autocrats, who believed in government by one strong 
man rather than by the democratic many; but with their 
despotism they combined a real desire for the welfare of their 
subjects. They took measures to secure religious toleration, 
to relieve poverty, to codify the laws, to provide elementary 
education, and to encourage scientific research. These ac¬ 
tivities have won for them the name of the “enlightened 
despots.” 

In Russia, Catherine the Great, who reigned during the 
latter part of the eighteenth century, posed as such a despot. 
Catherine She paid little more than lip-service, however, to 
the Great the id eas t he French thinkers. If she abolished 
torture, she did not do away with the knout; for capital pun¬ 
ishment she only substituted the living death of exile in 
Siberia. Her toleration of dissenters from the Russian 
(Orthodox) Church stopped short of allowing them to build 
chapels for public worship, and her passion for legislative 
reform grew cold when she found that she must begin by 


The “Enlightened Despots’' 701 

freeing the serfs. Catherine’s real attitude is exhibited 
in a letter to the governor of Moscow: “My dear prince, 
do not complain that the Russians have no desire for 
instruction; if I institute schools it is not for us, it is for 
Europe, where we must keep our position in public opin¬ 
ion. But the day when 
our peasants shall wish to 
become educated both you 
and I will lose our places.” 

Catherine’s contempo¬ 
rary, Frederick the Great, 

Was a despot Frederick 

more sincere the Great 
and more enlightened. He 
worked harder and had 
fewer pleasures than any 
other king of his day. 

Although Frederick’s re¬ 
sources had been so com¬ 
pletely drained by the 
Seven Years’ War (§219) 
that it was necessary for 
him to melt the silver in 
the royal palaces and debase the currency, his vigorous 
measures soon restored the national prosperity. He labored 
in a hundred ways to make Prussia the best-governed state 
in Europe. Thus, he founded elementary schools so that his 
subjects could learn at least to read and write, and reformed 
the courts so that everybody from high to low might be as¬ 
sured of impartial justice. A liberal in religion, the corre¬ 
spondent and friend of Voltaire, Frederick declared that 
every one should be allowed to get to heaven in his own way, 
and backed up his declaration by putting Roman Catholics 
on an equality with Protestants throughout the Prussian 
dominions. No less than-thirty volumes, all in French, con¬ 
tain the poems, letters, and books on history, politics, and 
military matters which Frederick found time to compose 



Catherine II 

After a painting by Van Wilk. 







702 


The Old Regime in Europe 

in the spare moments of an industrious life. This “ phi¬ 
losopher’’ on the throne held the attention of his generation 
in the world of ideas as well as in that of diplomacy and 
war. 

In Austria, Joseph II, the eldest son and successor of Maria 
Theresa, was still another “enlightened despot.” Joseph 
Joseph n wished to unite the various peoples in the Haps- 
burg realm, with all their differences of race, 
speech, and religion, into a real nation. German officials 
sent out from Vienna were to administer the affairs of each 
province. The army was to be built up by compulsory 
service after the Prussian model. German was to be used 
everywhere as the official language. Most unwisely, how¬ 
ever, Joseph tried to do in a short lifetime what all the 
Hapsburg rulers after him could not accomplish. The result 
was that his measures to Germanize Hungarians, Bohemians, 
Italians, and Netherlanders only aroused hostility and did 
not survive his death. The sentence that the king himself 
proposed as his epitaph was a truthful summary of his reign: 
“Here lies the man who, with the best intentions, never 
succeeded in anything.” 

Paternal government had two serious weaknesses. First, 
the despots could not determine the policy of their successors. 
Failure of An able and liberal-minded ruler might be fol- 
paternai lowed by a ruler who was indolent, extravagant, 
government an( j un p r0 g ress i ve> j n p m ssia, for instance, the 
weak reign of Frederick the Great’s successor undid much of 
his work. The same thing happened in Spain and Portugal. 
Second, the despots, however enlightened, treated their sub¬ 
jects as children and made reforms without first discovering 
whether reformation was popularly desired. Their work, 
therefore, often did not endure, as was the case in Austria. 
Paternalism in government consequently gave way to popu¬ 
lar sovereignty and democracy. These were brought in by 
the French Revolution and the other revolutionary move¬ 
ments which have followed it in Europe during the nine¬ 
teenth and twentieth centuries. 


703 


The “Enlightened Despots” 


For Explanation 


Old Regime 
absolutism 
divine right 
Third Estate 


Colbert 

Alsace-Lorraine 
Peace of Utrecht 


Bourbon dynasty 


Romanovs 

Hapsburgs 

Hohenzollerns 

Silesia 

Seven Years’ War 
Stuart dynasty 
Puritans 

Petition of Right 


Commonwealth 
Protectorate 
habeas corpus 
Bill of Rights 
Act of Settlement 
Hanoverian dynasty 
Encyclopedists 
Joseph II 


For Discussion 


1 . “ The evils of European society were rooted in feudalism and entrenched 
in privilege.” Comment on this statement. 

2. Do any European monarchs still claim to rule by divine right? 

3. What were some of the features of the Old Regime which led to the 
demand for “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”? 

4. How did the acquisition of Alsace and Lorraine help to round out the 
“natural boundaries” of France? 

5. Show that Russia until the time of Peter the Great was an “annex of 
Asia” rather than a part of Europe. 

6. “Russia is the last-born child of European civilization.” Comment 
on this statement. 

7. Account for the development of both absolutism and militarism in 
Prussia. 

8. Trace the downfall of divine right as a political doctrine in seventeenth- 
century England. 

9. How was the “Glorious Revolution” a “preserving” and not a “de¬ 
stroying” revolution? 

10. What is the essential difference between a “limited” or “constitu¬ 
tional” monarchy and an “absolute” or “autocratic” monarchy? 

11. How did Locke’s theory of the social contract provide the intellectual 
justification for the “Glorious Revolution”? 

12. Who were the French “philosophers” and what was the importance 
of their work? 

13. Why has Rousseau’s Social Contract been called “the Bible of the 
French Revolution” and “the gospel of modern democracy”? 

14. Why did not the reforms of the “enlightened despots” make a revolu¬ 
tion unnecessary? 

15. “No reform can produce real good unless it is the work of public 
opinion, and unless the people themselves take the initiative.” Does 
this statement seem to be justified? 


704 


The Old Regime in Europe 

For Further Study 

1. Read Southey’s poem, After Blenheim. Does it rightly appreciate the 
significance of this battle in European history? 

2. Read Macaulay’s poem, The Battle of Naseby. How does it contrast 
the “Roundheads” with the “Cavaliers”? 

3. Study the first ten Amendments to the Constitution of the United 
States. Compare them with the Bill of Rights. 

4. Debate this question: “Resolved, that the rule of enlightened or 
benevolent despots is preferable to that of modern elective officials.” 


Supplementary 

Webster and Webb, Historical Outline Maps and Exercises: Early European 
History, No. XXIII, Europe after the Peace of Utrecht (1713). 



A Politician 
A fter a cartoon by W. Hogarth. 













GROWTH OF CHRISTIANITY 
FROM THE FIFTH TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY 

Extent of Christianity about 400 A. D. i ~~1 Mohammedanism is 

shown by white bands 


□ Area Christianized 400-800 A. D. 


□ Area Christianized 800-1100 A. D. 
Area Christianized 1100-1300 A. D. 


$ Division between the 
Greek and Roman Churches 


Boundaries (in 622 A.D.) of the patriarchates of Rome, Constantinople, 
Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria 


10 c 










































Dorp at 


Vilna 


Cracow 


\ Gra n 


;ivar 


A«# r J 


ioStnyT na \ \ 

^oEP beS o M ,\ 
^4 Da 0< ^' < T ea 


Gortyne 


kopmg 


rrzig C5 Marienburg 

"''-(Jo Kulm' 

iweglCoPlock^-. 

O K 

sen \ 


lato 


of Miles 

300 400 


THE M.-N.WORKS 


East 


20 from 


Greenwich 






























































. 






















* 
















































































CHAPTER XXIX 


EXPANSION OF EUROPE 

The only population of America that has counted in history has been of 
European origin. The institutions that characterize the New World are 
fundamentally those of Europe. People and institutions have been 
modified by the material conditions of America; and the process of emigra¬ 
tion gave a new direction to the development of American history from 
the very beginning; but the origin of the people, of their institutions, and 
of their history was none the less a European one. 

— E. P. Cheyney 

224. Mercantilism and Trading Companies 

Many motives inspired colonial expansion in the seven¬ 
teenth and eighteenth centuries. Political aims had con¬ 
siderable weight. Holland, France, and England Motives for 
wanted possessions overseas as a balance to those colonization 
obtained by Portugal and Spain. The religious impulse 
also played a part, as when Jesuit missionaries penetrated 
the American wilderness to convert the Indians to Chris¬ 
tianity and when the Pilgrim Fathers sought in the New 
World a refuge from persecution. But the main motive for 
colonization was economic in character. Colonies were 
planted in order to furnish the homeland with raw materials 
for its manufactures, new markets, and favorable oppor¬ 
tunities for the investment of capital in commerce and 
industry. 

Most European statesmen at this time accepted the prin¬ 
ciples of the mercantile system. Mercantilism is the name 
given to the economic doctrine that stressed The 
the importance of foreign trade, or commerce mercantile 
— “merchandising —as a source of national 
wealth. Some Mercantilists even argued that the prosperity 

705 


706 


Expansion of Europe 

of a nation is in exact proportion to the amount of money in 
circulation within its borders. They urged, therefore, that 
each country should so conduct its dealings with other coun¬ 
tries as to attract to itself the largest possible share of the 
precious metals. This could be most easily done by fostering 
exports of manufactures, through bounties and special privi¬ 
leges, and by discouraging imports, except of raw materials. 
If the country sold more to foreigners than it bought from 
them, then there would be a “favorable balance of trade/’ 
and this balance the foreigners would have to make up in 
coin or bullion. 

Large and flourishing colonies seemed essential to the 
success of the mercantile system. Colonies were viewed 
Mercantilism simply as estates to be worked for the advantage 
and colonial of the country fortunate enough to possess them, 
policy The home government tried to prevent other gov¬ 

ernments from trading with its dependencies. It also either 
prohibited or placed serious restrictions on colonial manu¬ 
factures which might compete with those of the mother 
country. Portugal and Spain in earlier times (§ 203), and 
now Holland, France, and England, pursued such a colonial 
policy. 

The home government did not itself engage in colonial 
commerce. It granted this privilege to private companies 
Trading organized for the purpose. A company, in re¬ 
companies turn for the monopoly of trade with the inhabit¬ 
ants of a colony, was expected to govern and protect them. 

The first form of association was the regulated company. 
Each member, after paying the entrance fee, traded with his 
Regulated ° Wn Ca P^ a ^ at 0Wn V1S ^ anC * kept his profits tO 
and joint- himself. This loose association afterward gave 
stock . way to the joint-stock company. The members 
contributed to a common fund and, instead of 
trading themselves, intrusted the management of the business 
to a board of directors. Any one who invested his capital 
would then receive a “dividend” on his “shares” of the joint 
stock, provided the enterprise was successful. Joint-stock 


The Dutch Colonial Empire 707 

companies thus formed a connecting link with modern cor¬ 
porations. 

Trading companies were very numerous. For instance, 
Holland, France, England, Sweden, and Denmark, as well as 
Scotland and Prussia, each chartered its own Examples of 
"East India Company.” England had many trading 
trading companies, particularly those which op- compames 
erated in the Baltic lands, Russia, Turkey, India, Morocco, 
West Africa, and North America. 

225. The Dutch Colonial Empire 

The Dutch, living in a small territory which was never 
capable of supporting more than a fraction of the inhabit¬ 
ants by agriculture, naturally became seamen. Holland as a 
They began as fishermen on a grand scale, "ex- commercial 
changing tons of herring for tons of gold,” and power 
gradually built up an extensive transport trade between the 
Mediterranean and the Baltic lands. After the discovery 
of the Cape route to the East Indies (§ 200), Dutch traders 
met Portuguese merchants at Lisbon and there obtained 
spices and other eastern commodities for distribution 
throughout Europe. Later, they began to make expedi¬ 
tions directly to the East Indies, whose trade had been 
monopolized by Portugal and Spain for almost a century. 
They also captured many Portuguese and Spanish ships, 
secured commercial ports on the coasts of Africa and India, 
and established themselves securely in the Far East. 

The Dutch government presently chartered the East India 
Company and gave to it the monopoly of trade and rule from 
the Cape of Good Hope eastward to the Strait of Dutch 
Magellan. The company operated chiefly in the East India 
rich islands of the Malay Archipelago. Here Company 
much bitter fighting took place with the Portuguese, who 
were finally driven from nearly all of their eastern possessions. 
Ceylon, Malacca, Sumatra, Java, Celebes, and the Moluccas, 
or Spice Islands, passed into the hands of the Dutch. The 



ne set 


O r-H 





















































































































709 


The Dutch Colonial Empire 

headquarters of the Dutch East India Company were located 
at Batavia in Java. This city still remains one of the leading 
commercial centers of the Far East. 

The Dutch possessions included the Cape of Good Hope, 
where the Dutch East India Company made a permanent 
settlement (Cape Town). It was intended, at The Dutch in 
first, to be simply a way-station or port of re- south Africa 
freshment for ships on the route to the Indies. Before long, 
however, Dutch emigrants began to arrive in increasing 
numbers, together with French Protestants (Huguenots), 
who had left their native land to escape persecution. These 



New Amsterdam in 1655 

After Van der Donck’s New Netherland. 


farmer-settlers, or Boers, laid the foundation of Dutch sway 
in South Africa. The Cape of Good Hope became a British 
possession at the opening of the nineteenth century, but the 
Boer republics long remained independent. 

Fired by their success and enriched by their gains in the 
East, the Dutch started out to form another colonial empire 
in the West. It was an agent of the Dutch East The Dutch 
India Company, Henry Hudson, who, seeking a in America 
northwest passage to the East Indies, discovered in 1609 
the river which bears his name. The Dutch sent out ships 
to trade with the natives and built a fort on Manhattan 
Island. The Dutch West India Company soon received a 
charter for commerce and colonization between the west 



710 


Expansion of Europe 

coast of Africa and the east coast of the Americas. The 
company’s little station on Manhattan Island became the 
flourishing port of New Amsterdam, from which the Dutch 
settlement of New Netherland spread up the Hudson River. 
The company also secured a large part of Guiana, as well as 
some of the West Indies. 



The Dutch for a time were the leaders of commercial 
Europe. They owned more merchant ships than any other 
Dutch people and almost monopolized the carrying 

colonies trade from the East Indies and between the 

Mediterranean and the Baltic. Though after¬ 
ward outstripped by France and England in the race for 
commerce and colonies, Holland still keeps most of the 
tropical dependencies acquired in the seventeenth century. 
These are about sixty times as large and six times as popu¬ 
lous as the mother country. 

226. Rivalry of the French and English in 
India 

The Portuguese and later the Dutch enjoyed a profitable 
trade with India, which supplied them with cotton, indigo, 
India and spices, dyes, drugs, precious stones, and other 
Europe articles of luxury in European demand. During 

the seventeenth century, however, the French and the Eng- 










Rivalry of the French and English in India 711 

lish became the principal competitors for Indian trade, and 
during the eighteenth century the rivalry between them led 
to the defeat of the French and the secure establishment 
of English rule over India. A region half as large as Europe 
began to pass under the control of a single European power. 

The conquest of India was made possible by the decline of 
the Mogul (or Mongol) Empire, which had been founded by 
the Turkish chieftain Baber 
in the sixteenth century. That 
empire, though re- India under 
nowned for its theMoguls 
pomp and magnificence, never 
brought about a real unifica¬ 
tion of India. The country 
continued to be a collection 
of separate provinces, whose 
inhabitants were isolated from 
one another by differences of 
race, language, and religion. 

The Indian peoples had no 
feeling of nationality, and 
when the Mogul Empire broke 
up they were ready, with per¬ 
fect indifference, to accept 
any other government able to 
keep order among them. 

Neither France nor Eng¬ 
land began by making annexations in India. Each country 
merely established an East India company, giving to it a 
monopoly of trade between India and the home- The East 
land. The French company, chartered during India 
the reign of Louis XIV, had its headquarters com P ames 
at Pondicherry, on the southeastern coast of India. The 
English company, which received its first charter from Queen 
Elizabeth, possessed three widely separated settlements at 
Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta. 

The French were the first to attempt the task of empire- 



A Mogul Emperor 









712 Expansion of Europe 

making in India, under the leadership of Dupleix, the able 
governor-general of Pondicherry. Dupleix saw clearly that 
Dupieix the break-up of the Mogul Empire and the de¬ 
fenseless condition of the native states opened the 
way to the European conquest of India. In order that the 
French might profit by this unique opportunity, he entered 
into alliance with some of the Indian princes, fortified 
Pondicherry, and managed to form an army by enlisting 
native soldiers (Sepoys), who were drilled by French 
officers. The English afterward did the same thing, and 
to this day Sepoys comprise the bulk of the Indian forces 
of Great Britain. Upon the outbreak of the War of the 
Austrian Succession (§ 219) the French captured Madras, 
but it was restored to the English by the Peace of Aix-la- 
Chapelie. Dupleix continued, however, to extend French 
influence in the south and east of India. 

The English could not look unconcernedly upon the prog¬ 
ress of their French rivals, and it was a young Englishman, 
ciive Robert Clive, whose genius checkmated Du- 

pleix’s ambitious schemes. To Clive, more than 
to any other man, Great Britain owes the beginning of her 
present Indian Empire. Clive had been a clerk in the 
employ of the East India Com¬ 
pany at Madras, but he soon got 
a commission in the army and en¬ 
tered upon a military career. His 

Autograph of Clive first success was gained in south¬ 
eastern India. Here he managed 
to overthrow an upstart prince whom Dupleix supported 
and to restore English influence in that part of the peninsula. 
Dupleix was then recalled in disgrace to France, where he 
died a disappointed man. 

Clive now found an opportunity for even greater service. 
The native ruler of Bengal, a man ferocious in temper and 
Battle of consumed with hatred of the English, suddenly 
piassey, 1757 captured Calcutta. He allowed one hundred and 
forty-six prisoners to be confined in a tiny room, where 




Rivalry of the French and English in India 713 













































































714 


Expansion of Europe 

they passed the sultry night without water. Next morning 
only twenty-three came forth alive from the “Black Hole.” 
This atrocity was avenged by the wonderful victory of 
Plassey, in which Clive, with a handful of soldiers, overthrew 
an Indian army of fifty thousand men. Plassey showed 
conclusively that native troops were no match for Europeans 
and made the English masters of Bengal, with its rich delta, 
mighty rivers, and teeming population. 

Meanwhile, the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War in 
Europe (§ 219) renewed the contest between France and Eng- 
The seven land on Indian soil. The English were corn- 
yea 1 ' 8 ’ War pletely successful, for their control of the sea pre¬ 
vented the French government from sending 
reinforcements to India. France recovered her territorial 
possessions by the Peace of Paris in 1763, but agreed not to 
fortify them. This meant that she gave up her dream of an 
empire in India. England henceforth enjoyed a free hand 
in shaping the destinies of that vast region. 

227. The Settlement of North America 

Magellan’s discovery of a strait leading into the Pacific 
aroused hope that a similar passage, beyond the regions con- 
Lateness of trolled by Spain, might exist in North America. 
French A French navigator, Jacques Cartier, made 
colonization severa i VO yages to look for it. Cartier found 
the great gulf and river which he named after St. Lawrence 
and also tried to establish a settlement near where Quebec 
now stands. His venture was not successful, and the French 
did not undertake further colonization of Canada until after 
the beginning of the seventeenth century. 

The first great name in Canadian history is that of Samuel 
de Champlain, who enjoyed the patronage of Henry IV. 
Champlain Champlain explored the coast of Maine and Mass- 
and Canada achusetts, discovered the beautiful lake now called 
after him, traced the course of the St. Lawrence River, and 
also came upon Lakes Ontario and Huron. He set up a per- 


The Settlement of North America 


715 



manent French post at Quebec in 1608. Montreal, on an is¬ 
land in the St. Lawrence, was founded a number of years later. 

During the reign of Louis XIV the exploration of Canada 
went on with renewed energy. The French, hitherto, had 
been spurred by the hope of finding in the Great La Saiie and 
Lakes a western passage to the East Indies. Louisiana 
Joliet, the fur trader, and Marquette, the Jesuit missionary, 
believed that they had actually found the highway uniting 








716 


Expansion of Europe 

the Atlantic and the Pacific when their birchbark canoes 
first glided into the upper Mississippi. It was reserved for 
the greatest of French explorers, Robert de La Salle, to dis¬ 
cover the true character of the “Father of Waters” and to 
perform the feat of descending it to the sea. He took 
possession of all the territory drained by the Mississippi 
for Louis XIV, naming it Louisiana. 

Where La Salle had shown the way, missionaries, fur 
traders, hunters, and adventurers quickly followed. The 
AT _ French now began to realize the importance of 
the Mississippi Valley, which time was to prove 
the most extensive fertile area in the world. Efforts were 
made to occupy it and to connect it with Canada by a chain 
of forts reaching from Quebec and Montreal on the St. 
Lawrence to New Orleans at the mouth of the Mississippi. 
All of the continent west of the Alleghenies was to become 
New France. 

However ambitious this design, it seemed not impossible 
of fulfillment. New France, a single royal province under 
strength and one military governor, offered a united front to 
weakness of the divided English colonies. The population, 
New France though small compared with the number of the 
English colonists, consisted mostly of men of military age, 
good fighters, and aided by numerous Indian allies. Lack 
of home support largely offset these real advantages. While 
the French were contending for colonial supremacy, they 
were constantly at war in Europe. They wasted on European 
battlefields the resources which might otherwise have been 
expended in America. Furthermore, the despotism of Louis 
XIV and Louis XV hampered private enterprise in New 
France by vexatious restrictions on trade and industry, and 
at the same time deprived the inhabitants of training in 
self-government. The French settlers never breathed the 
air of liberty, while the English colonists in political matters 
were left almost entirely to themselves. The failure of 
France to become a world power at this time was due, there¬ 
fore, chiefly to the unfortunate policies of her rulers. 


The Thirteen Colonies 


717 


The English based their claim to the right to colonize 
North America on the discoveries of John Cabot, an Italian 
mariner in the service of the first Tudor king, Laten essof 
Henry VII. Cabot made two voyages across the English 
Atlantic and explored the North American coast colomzatlon 
from Labrador almost to Florida. As he found in the New 
World neither gold nor openings for profitable trade, his 
expeditions were considered a failure. Other discoveries 
were made by English seamen seeking a route to India by 
the Northwest Passage. During Elizabeth’s reign Sir Walter 
Raleigh planted a settlement in the region then called 
Virginia, after the “ Virgin Queen,” but lack of support from 
home caused it to perish miserably. The truth was that 
Englishmen had first to break the power of Spain in Europe 
before they could give much attention to America. The 
defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 (§ 212) at length 
enabled them to establish American colonies without inter¬ 
ference from Spain. There soon followed the foundation of 
Jamestown (1607) and Plymouth (1620), the first permament 
settlements of Englishmen in the New World. 

Both New England and the southern colonies were chiefly 
English in blood. Many emigrants also came from other 
parts of the British Isles. The emigrants from Anglo-Saxon 
Continental Europe included French Protestants expansion 
and Germans from the Rhine districts. The population of 
the middle colonies was far more mixed. Besides English 
and a sprinkling of Scotch and Irish, it comprised Dutch 
in New York, Swedes in Delaware, and Germans in Penn¬ 
sylvania. But neither France, Holland, Sweden, nor Ger¬ 
many contributed largely to the settlement of the Thirteen 
Colonies. 

228. The Thirteen Colonies 

The English language prevailed almost everywhere in the 
colonies, not, however, without quaint modifications of spell¬ 
ing and pronunciation introduced by emigrants from differ¬ 
ent parts of the mother country. The emigrants also brought 


718 


Expansion of Europe 

many proverbs and traditional sayings, some of which were 
afterward printed by Benjamin Franklin in Poor Richard's 
Transit of Almanac. Old ballads, once sung in medieval 
culture from England, were chanted in colonial America. Old 
England to fairy tales and nursery rhymes, which had de¬ 
lighted generations of English children, found 
equally appreciative audiences in the American wilderness. 
These varieties of folk-literature were not at first written 
down, but were carried in the memory by young and old. 
Nearly all the popular festivals of the colonists came from 
England. The only important exception was Thanksgiving 
Day, which the Pilgrims began to celebrate immediately 
after their first harvest. Many superstitions of the Middle 
Ages, including those relating to astrology, unlucky days, 
magic, and witchcraft (§ 190), also crossed the Atlantic to 
the New World. 

Almost every variety of Protestantism was represented in 
the colonies. The Church of England from the start had its 
strongholds in Virginia, Maryland, and the Caro- 
linas, and later in New York. After the Revolu¬ 
tionary War it took the name of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, but kept nearly all the Anglican doctrines and 
ceremonies. The Congregational and Presbyterian churches, 
which flourished in New England, were Calvinistic (§ 208) in 
form and doctrines. Baptists were numerous in Rhode 
Island, and Quakers in Pennsylvania. Maryland contained 
many Roman Catholics. There were few Jews in the colo¬ 
nies; they enjoyed freedom of worship, but did not have 
the privileges of citizenship. 

All the colonists possessed the private rights which Eng¬ 
lishmen had won during centuries of struggle against despotic 
The private kings. Free speech, freedom from arbitrary im- 
rights of Eng- prisonment as secured by the writ of habeas 
corpus (§ 222), and trial by jury formed part of 
our inheritance from England. These and other private 
rights were embodied in the Common Law, as introduced 
into colonial America. At the time of the Revolution the 


The Thirteen Colonies. 


719 


Common Law was adopted by the several states, thus be¬ 
coming the foundation of our own legal system. 

The English principle of representation was also carried to 
the New World. Each colony had a representative assembly 
modeled after the House of Commons. Virginia Rep resenta- 
early led the way, with the establishment in 1619 tive assem- 
of the House of Burgesses, which consisted of blies 
deputies freely elected by the inhabitants of each settlement. 
A few years later the freemen of each Massachusetts town 
were allowed to send two deputies to act for them at the 
General Court of the colony. New York, which had been a 
Dutch possession, was the last of 
the colonies to adopt representa¬ 
tive self-government. 

The assemblies of Virginia, 

Massachusetts, New York, and 
the other colonies were The 
more truly representa- franchise 
tive of the great body of the 
people than was the English Par¬ 
liament of the period. In England, 
a small number of persons — no¬ 
bles, country squires, and rich mer¬ 
chants — controlled elections to 
the House of Commons. In the colonies all free adult white 
men, who owned a moderate amount of property, usually had 
the right to vote. Religious qualifications, limiting the fran¬ 
chise to Protestants, also existed in some of the colonies. 

No close political ties united the colonies. The differences 
between them in industries, religion, manners, and customs 
prevented their effective cooperation. Yet there Disunion of 
had been preparation for union and signs of its the colonies 
coming. As early as 1643 Massachusetts, Connecticut, New 
Haven (then a separate colony), and Plymouth entered into a 
league “for mutual help and strength in all our future con¬ 
cernments/’ This league, known as the United Colonies of 
New England, held together for forty years. Delegates 



“Join or Die" 

A device printed in Franklin’s 
newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette , 
shows a wriggling rattlesnake cut 
into pieces, with the initial letter of 
a colony on each piece. 








720 


Expansion of Europe 

from seven colonies met in the Albany Congress of 1754 
and discussed Benjamin Franklin’s plan for forming a de¬ 
fensive union of all the colonies against the power of France. 
The plan fell through, but it set men to thinking about the 
advantages of federation. 


229. Rivalry of the French and English in 
North America 

The eighteenth century was full of wars in Europe, with 
England, France, Austria, and Prussia as the chief com- 
European and batants. England and France were enemies in 
colonial wars a q these wars, as they had been during the later 
Middle Ages (§ 172). Their struggle extended beyond the 
Continent, for each of the rivals tried to destroy the com¬ 
merce and annex the colonies of the other. We have just 
learned how the English began to build up an empire in India 
at the expense of the French. They met equal success in 
their long duel with the French in North America. 

The War of the Spanish Succession, which in American 
history is called Queen Anne’s War, closed with the Peace 
Provisions Utrecht. England secured Newfoundland, 

of the Peace Acadia (including Nova Scotia), and the ex- 
i 7 i 3 trecht ’ tensive region drained by the rivers flowing into 
Hudson Bay. France, however, kept the best 
part of her American territories and control of the St. 
Lawrence and the Mississippi. The possession of these two 
waterways gave her a strong strategic position in the interior 
of the continent. 

The two great European wars which came between 1740 
and 1763 were naturally reflected in the New World. The 
King War of the Austrian Succession, known in Ameri- 

Warandthe can history as King George’s War, proved to be 
French and 6 indecisive. The Seven Years’ War, similarly 
Indian War known as the French and Indian War, resulted in 
the expulsion of the French from North America. France 
had no resources to cope with those of England in America, 


Rivalry of the French and English in America 721 

and the English command of the sea proved decisive. One 
French post after another was captured. Wolfe defeated the 
gallant Montcalm under the walls of Quebec and the fall of 



that stronghold quickly followed. What remained of the 
French army at Montreal also surrendered. The British flag 
was now raised over Canada, where it has flown ever since. 




























722 


Expansion of Europe 


European and Colonial Wars, 1702-1783 


In Europe 

Dates 

Contestants 

Treaty 

In America 

War of the 
Spanish 
Succession 

1702-1713 

France, Spain, 

Bavaria vs. 

Great Britain, 
Holland, Aus¬ 
tria, Portugal, 
Savoy, Prussia, 
etc. 

Utrecht and 
Rastatt 

Queen 

Anne’s 

War 

War of the 
Austrian 
Succession 

1740-1748 

Prussia, France, 
Spain, Bavaria 
vs. Austria, 

Great Britain, 
Holland 

Aix-la- 

Chapelle 

King 

George’s 

War 

(1744- 

1748) 

Seven Years’ 
War 

1756-1763 

Prussia, Great 

Britain vs. 
Austria, France, 
Russia, Sweden, 
Saxony 

Paris and 
Hubertus- 
burg 

French and 
Indian 
War 
(1754- 
1763) 

War of the 
American 
Revolution 

1776-1783 

Great Britain vs. 
United States, 
France, Spain, 
Holland 

Paris and 
Versailles 



By the Peace of Paris, France ceded to England all her 
North American possessions east of the Mississippi, except 
Provisions two sma d islands kept for fishing purposes off the 
of the coast of Newfoundland. Spain, which had also 

Paris 6 1763 k een i nv °l ve d in the war, gave up Florida to Eng¬ 
land, receiving as compensation the French terri¬ 
tories west of the Mississippi. New France was now only a 
memory. However, the Canadian province of Quebec is 
still chiefly French in language and Roman Catholic in reli¬ 
gion, while Louisiana, though shrunk to the dimensions of an 
American state, still keeps in its laws and in many customs 
of its people the French tradition. 

The Peace of Paris marked a turning point in the history 
of the Thirteen Colonies. Relieved of pressure from the 

















The American Revolution 723 

French and the Indians, they now felt less keenly their 
dependence on England. Close ties, the ties Englandand 
of common interests, common ideals, and a com- the Thirteen 
mon origin, still attached them to the mother Colomes 
country; but these were soon to be rudely broken by the 
American Revolution. 

230. The American Revolution 

English colonists in the New World had long been drawing 
apart from Englishmen in the Old World. The political 
training received by the colonists in their local p rep aration 
meetings and provincial assemblies fitted them forinde- 
for self-government, while the hard conditions of pendence 
life in America fostered their energy, self-reliance, and im¬ 
patience of restraint. The important part which they played 
in the conquest of Canada gave them confidence in their 
military abilities and showed them the value of cooperation. 
Renewed interference of Great Britain in what they deemed 
their private concerns before long called forth their united 
resistance. 

Some of the grievances of which the colonists complained 
were the outcome of the British colonial policy. The home 
government discouraged the manufacture in the Restrictions 
colonies of goods that could be made in England, on colonial 
Parliament, for instance, prohibited the export manufactures 
of woolens, not only to the British Isles and the Continent, 
but also from one colony to another, and forbade the colo¬ 
nists to set up mills for making wrought iron or its finished 
products. Such regulations aimed to give British manu¬ 
facturers a monopoly of the colonial markets. 

The home government also interfered with the commerce 
of the colonies. As early as 1660 Parliament passed a Navi¬ 
gation Act, providing that sugar, tobacco, cot- Restrictions 
ton, and indigo might not be exported direct from on colonial 
the colonies to foreign countries, but must be first commerce 
brought to England, where duties were paid on them. A 


724 Expansion of Europe 

later Act required all imports into the colonies from Conti¬ 
nental Europe to have been actually shipped from an Eng¬ 
lish port, thus compelling the colonists to go to England 
for their supplies. 

All this legislation was not so repressive as one would sup¬ 
pose, partly because it was so constantly evaded by smug- 
Aiieviations gling and partly because Great Britain formed 
and com- the natural market for most colonial products, 
pensations Moreover, the home government gave some 
special favors in the shape of “bounties,” or sums of money, to 
encourage the production of food and raw materials needed 
in Great Britain. Twenty-four colonial 
industries were aided in this manner. Co¬ 
lonial shipping was also fostered, for ships 
built in the colonies enjoyed the same ex¬ 
clusive privileges in the carrying trade as 
British-built ships. In fact, the restric¬ 
tions which the American colonists had 
to endure were light, compared with the 
shackles laid by Spain and France upon 
their colonial possessions. It must always 
be remembered, finally, that Great Britain 
defended the colonists in return for trade privileges. As long 
as her help was needed against the French, they did not pro¬ 
test seriously against the legislation of Parliament. 

After the close of the Seven Years’ War, George III and his 
ministers determined to keep British troops in America as a 
The stamp protection against outbreaks by the French or 
Act and the Indians. The colonists, to whose safety an army 
Acts nShend would add > were ex P ecte d to pay for its partial 
support. Parliament, accordingly, took steps to 
enforce the laws regulating colonial commerce and also passed 
the Stamp Act. The protests of the colonists led to the 
repeal of this measure, but it was soon replaced by the Town- 
shend Acts, levying duties on certain commodities imported 
into America. These Acts, in turn, were repealed a few 
years later. Parliament kept a small duty on tea. in order 



The American Revolution 725 

that the colonists might not think that it had abandoned 
its assumed right to tax them. 

The Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts thus brought up 
the whole question as to the extent of parliamentary control 
over the colonists. They argued that taxes could 
be rightfully voted only by their own representa- a tion ^th¬ 
rive assemblies. It was a natural attitude for out re P r % 
them to take, since Parliament, sitting three sen a lon 
thousand miles away, had little insight into American affairs. 
The British view was that Parliament “virtually” repre¬ 
sented all Englishmen and hence might tax them wherever 
they lived. This view can also be understood, for the 
“Glorious Revolution” had established the supremacy of 
Parliament in England (§222). In any case, however, di¬ 
rect taxation of the colonies was clearly contrary to custom 
and very unwise in the face of the popular feeling which it 
aroused in America. 

The colonists were so opposed to the principle of parliamen¬ 
tary taxation that they refused to buy tea from British 
merchants and in Boston even boarded a tea ship 
and threw the cargo into the water. Parliament of independ- 
replied to the “Boston Tea Party ” by closing the 1776 

harbor of that city to commerce and by depriving 
Massachusetts of self-government. These measures, instead 
of bringing the stubborn colony to terms, only aroused the 
fears of her neighbors and led to the meeting of delegates 
from all the colonies, except Georgia, in the First Continental 
Congress. It recommended a policy of non-intercourse with 
Great Britain until the colonists had recovered their “just 
rights and liberties.” The Second Continental Congress, 
which met after blood had been shed at Lexington and Con¬ 
cord, prepared for war and appointed George Washington to 
command the colonial forces. On July 4, 1776, after the 
failure of all plans for conciliation with the mother country, 
it declared that “these united colonies are, and of right 
ought to be, free and independent states.” 

No colony at first contained a large majority in favor of 


726 


Expansion of Europe 

separation, and even after the Declaration of Independ¬ 
ence numerous loyalists, or “Tories,” continued to favor 
The the British cause. Many “Tories” emigrated 

“Tories” i n g rea t numbers to Canada, where they were 
among the first English settlers. They prospered in their 
new home, and their descendants, who form a considerable 
part of the Canadian population, are to-day devoted mem¬ 
bers of the British Empire. 

Even had the colonists been unanimous in resistance to 
Great Britain, they stood little chance of winning against a 
The French wealthy country with a population nearly three 
alliance, 1778 times their own, trained armies aided by German 
mercenaries, and a powerful navy. When, however, the 
resources of France were thrown into the scale, the issue 
became less doubtful. France, still smarting from the losses 
suffered in the Seven Years’ War, and desiring to recover as 
much as possible of her colonial dominions, secretly aided 
the Americans with money and supplies for some time before 
the victory at Saratoga led her to enter into an open alliance 
with them. 

The war now became a European conflict, in which Spain 
and Holland fought by the side of France. Great Britain 
close of the needed all her reserve power to prevent rebellion 
Revolutionary in Ireland, defend Gibraltar, and keep her pos- 
War sessions in the West Indies and India. The 

struggle in America practically closed in 1781, when Corn¬ 
wallis, blockaded at Yorktown by a French fleet and closely 
invested by'the combined French and American armies, 
surrendered the largest British force then in the colonies. 
Nearly two years passed, however, before the contestants 
made peace. 

The Treaty of Paris between Great Britain and the United 
States recognized the independence of the former Thirteen 
Treaties of Colonies and fixed their boundaries at Canada 
Paris and Ver- and the Great Lakes, the Atlantic Ocean, Florida, 
sadies, 1783 anc j t ^ e ]\/Li ss i ss ippi River. The Treaty of Ver¬ 
sailles between Great Britain, France, and Spain restored to 


727 


Formation of the United States 

France a few colonial possessions and gave to Spain the 
Florida territory. Holland, which concluded a separate 
peace with Great Britain, was obliged to cede to that coun¬ 
try some stations in India and to throw open to British 
merchants the valuable trade of the East Indies. 



Signatures of the Treaty of Paris, 1783 


After the original document in the Department of State, Washington. 

The American Revolution reacted almost at once on 
Europe. The Declaration of Independence, setting forth 
the “unalienable rights of man” as against Amer i C a 
feudal privilege and oppression, provided eager teaching by 
leaders in France with a formula of liberty which example 
they were not slow in applying to their own country. The 
French Revolution, which began in 1789, was the child of 
the American Revolution. Early in the nineteenth century 
still another revolutionary movement stripped Spain and 
Portugal of all their continental possessions in the New 
World. America was, indeed, teaching by example. 

231. Formation of the United States 

The Continental Congress, which had framed the Declara¬ 
tion of Independence, continued to govern the United States 
until the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1781. 
The Articles established a mere league of states. The au- 




728 


Expansion of Europe 



North America after the Peace of Paris, 1783 


thority of Congress was practically limited to war, peace, 
and foreign affairs. It could not levy taxes, 
could not regulate interstate commerce, and had 
no power to enforce obedience on either a state 
or an individual. Every attempt to amend the Articles by 


Articles of 
Confedera¬ 
tion, 1781 































































Formation of the United States 729 

legislative action failed, and the weak and clumsy govern¬ 
ment which they had set up threatened to collapse. 

Such were the distressing circumstances under which the 
Federal Convention met at Philadelphia in May, 1787. To 
this body the states sent fifty-five delegates, in- The Federa i 
eluding Washington, who presided, Franklin, convention, 
James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. In- 1787 
stead of merely amending the Articles, they prepared an 
entirely new constitution. This task took them four months. 

Necessary though the Constitution was, if the American 
people were not to face anarchy and civil war, it satisfied 
neither the advocates of states’ rights nor the _ .. 

o Ratification 

extreme democrats. Eleven states ratified the 0 fthe 
Constitution within a year, but North Carolina 
and Rhode Island did not do so until after the 
inauguration of Washington as President in 1789. 

The concessions made to the opponents of the Constitu¬ 
tion, as originally framed, were set forth in the first ten 
Amendments. These provided for religious free- The first ten 
dom, the separation of Church and State, free Amendments, 
speech, a free press, the privileges of assembly 1791 (418) 
and petition, the right to bear arms, speedy and public jury 
trials, and other safeguards of personal liberty. In short, 
the Amendments were a Bill of Rights (§221) for the Ameri¬ 
can people. 

The Constitution, in many features, reflects the political 
experience of the colonists and their familiarity with British 
methods of government. Accustomed to a legis- Sources of 
lature of two chambers, they kept this arrange- ®« o c n onsti - 
ment in the Senate and House of Representa¬ 
tives, but made the upper, as well as the lower, chamber 
elective. The President’s powers of military command, ap¬ 
pointment, and veto resembled those of the colonial governor, 
but the framers of the Constitution made the Presidency an 
elective office. The national courts resembled those of the 
colonies, but the Supreme Court was an innovation. The 
Constitution can be amended only slowly and with much 


730 


Expansion of Europe 

difficulty. As a matter of fact, there have been only nine¬ 
teen Amendments altogether, and ten of these were made 
at one time. It is noteworthy that the Constitution con¬ 
tains no provision for the Cabinet system (§221), by which 
both executive and legislative functions are centered in the 
popular branch of the legislature. The Cabinet system was 
quite unknown to the colonists and at this time was not fully 
developed in Great Britain. As a whole, the Constitution 
formed a novelty in politics, because it established a real 
federal union rather than a mere league of states. 

In 1932 the people of the United States celebrated with 
pomp and circumstance, and with every evidence of deep 
George affection, the two hundredth anniversary of the 
Washington birth of Washington. History, it has been well 
said, presents hardly a stronger case of an indispensable man. 
How much his military talent, practical wisdom, fortitude 
under the sternest trials, and ability to hold the confidence 
of both army and people contributed to the final victory in 
the Revolution is known to all. His place among great 
rebels and national liberators is secure. Equally secure is his 
place in the select company of those who have been privileged 
to found new states. After the Revolution his correspond¬ 
ence with the leading men of the country helped greatly 
to nourish sentiments favorable to “a more perfect union”; 
he presided over the Federal Convention; he did perhaps 
more then any one else to secure the ratification of the Con¬ 
stitution; and as President during eight critical years he gave 
to the new republic authority and respect at home and 
prestige abroad. To Washington, with far more right than 
even to the old Roman heroes, are applied the proud words— 
“Father of his Country.” 

232. Progress of Geographical Discovery 

Great Britain soon found at least partial compensation for 
the loss of the Thirteen Colonies in the occupation of Aus¬ 
tralia and the islands of the Pacific'.' That vast ocean, cover- 



















































































































































































731 


Progress of Geographical Discovery 

ing more than one-third of the globe, remained little known 
to Europeans until the latter part of the eighteenth century. 
Soon after Magellan’s voyage the Spaniards estab- Early ex _ 
lished a regular commercial route between Mexico pioration of 
and the Philippines and gradually discovered thePacific 
some of the archipelagoes which stud the intervening seas. 
Sir Francis Drake’s circumnavigation of the world (1577- 
1580) first drew the attention of Englishmen to the Pacific 
Ocean, but a long time passed before its systematic explora¬ 
tion began. 

The unveiling of the Pacific was closely connected with the 
Antarctic problem. Geographers from the time of the Greeks 
had a vague idea that a region of continental pro- The “ Great 
portions lay southeast of the Indian Ocean. The South Land ” 
idea found expression in Ptolemy’s map of the world (§ 63), 
and Marco Polo during his stay in China heard about it. 
After the Dutch became established in the East Indies, they 
made renewed search for the “Great South Land” and care¬ 
fully explored the western coast of Australia, or “New 
Holland.” 

The Dutch East India Company sent Abel Tasman from 
Batavia to investigate the real extent of Australia. Tas¬ 
man’s two voyages — among the most notable Tasman , s 
on record — led to the discovery of the island voyages, 
named after him (Tasmania) and New Zealand, 1642-1644 
and proved conclusively that Australia had no connection 
with the supposed Antarctic continent. The Dutch, however, 
took little interest in the regions which they had found, and 
more than one hundred years passed before Tasman’s work 
was continued by Captain James Cook. 

This famous navigator, the son of a farm laborer, entered 
the British navy at an early age and by his unaided efforts 
rose to high command. Cook’s first voyage in Cook , s 
the Pacific resulted in the exploration of the voyages in 
coast of New Zealand and the eastern shore of ^Pacific, 

r* 1 1 j_i xlbo— Li (V 

Australia. The second voyage finally settled the 
question as to the existence of a southern continent, for 


732 


Expansion of Europe 


Cook sailed three times across the Pacific Ocean without 
finding it. At the instance of George III, Cook undertook a 
third voyage to locate, if possible, an opening on the coast of 
Alaska which would lead into Hudson Bay. He followed the 
American coast through Bering Strait until an unbroken ice 
field barred further progress. On the return from the Arctic 
region Cook visited the Hawaiian Islands, where he was 
murdered by the natives. Thus closed the career of the man 

who did most to 
reveal to European 
gaze the island 
world of the Pa¬ 
cific. 1 

Captain Cook 
on his third voy¬ 
age was the first 
British navigator 
to sight Alaska. 
Here, however, he 
had been preceded 
by the Russians, 
who reached the 
Pacific by way of 
Siberia and the Arctic Ocean. It still remained uncertain 
whether or not Siberia was joined to the northern part of 
Bering’s the New World. Peter the Great, who showed 
voyages, a keen interest in geographical discovery, com¬ 
missioned Vitus Bering, a Dane in the Russian 
service, to solve the problem. Bering explored the strait 
and sea named after him and made clear the relation between 
North America and Asia. 

The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries thus added 
greatly to man’s knowledge of the world. Cook’s voyages, in 
Scientific particular, left the main outlines of the southern 
exploration part Q f ^ gi 0 b e substantially as they are known 
to-day. From this time systematic exploration for scientific 
1 See the map between pages 730-731. 



The “Discovery” 

Captain Cook’s ship on his last voyage. When this draw¬ 
ing was made, she was being used as a coaling-vessel at New¬ 
castle; hence the addition of steam funnels. 







733 


Progress of Geographical Discovery 

purposes more and more took the place of voyages by private 
adventurers for the sake of warfare or plunder. Geographical 
discovery must be included, therefore, among the influences 
which made the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries so 
conspicuously an age of enlightenment 


Mercantilism 
regulated company 
joint-stock company 
Boers 

Henry Hudson 

Mogul Empire 

Dupleix 

Madras 

Clive 

Plassey 

Bengal 


For Explanation 

Cartier 
Champlain 
La Salle 

United Colonies of New 
England 

Albany Congress 
King George’s War 
French and Indian War 
Wolfe 
Montcalm 
Navigation Acts 


Stamp Act 
Townshend Acts 
Peace of Paris and 
Versailles 

Articles of Confedera¬ 
tion 

Federal Convention 

Drake 

Tasman 

Cook 

Bering 


For Discussion 

1. According to the mercantile theory, what constituted a “favorable” 
and what an “ unfavorable ” balance of trade? 

2. How was the colonial policy based on Mercantilism opposed to modern 
ideas of commercial freedom? 

3. What was meant by the saying that colonies were “like so many 
farms of the mother country”? 

4. Why was the joint-stock company a more successful method of foster¬ 
ing colonial trade than the regulated company? 

5. Show that the seventeenth century belonged commercially to the 
Dutch, as the sixteenth century had belonged to the Portuguese and 
Spaniards. 

6. Why was it possible for European powers to secure dominions in 
India? 

7. What is meant by the “transit of culture” from England to the 
Thirteen Colonies? 

8. Show that no “taxation without representation” was a slogan which 
could hardly have arisen in any but an English country. 

9. “The Declaration of Independence was the formal announcement of 
democratic ideas that had their taproot in English soil.” Explain. 


734 Expansion of Europe 

10. “The history of the origin and development of the American nation 
is one chapter in the history of the development of English freedom.” 
Comment on this statement. 

11. In what sense was the American Revolution “a civil war within the 
British Empire”? 

12. Explain the different meanings of the word “Tory” in England and 
America. 

13. Show that the Constitution of the United States established, not a 
confederation, but a federal government. 

For Further Study 

1. Name the principal English trading companies and indicate in what 
parts of the world they operated (map, page 708). 

2. Enumerate the islands of the East Indies which are still Dutch pos¬ 
sessions (map, page 713). 

3. Prepare an oral report on the life of Robert Clive. 

4. Identify these dates in American colonial history: 1607, 1713, 1763, 
1783, and 1789. 

5. Show the results of the two treaties of Paris (1763 and 1783) on the 
European colonies in North America (maps, pages 721 and 728). 

6. Mention some of the accusations against George III as set forth in 
the Declaration of Independence. 

7. Trace the three voyages in the Pacific of Captain James Cook (map 
between pages 730-731). 



An Eighteenth-century Stagecoach 


















Epilogue 

W e have now learned something about distant times and un¬ 
familiar peoples during the few thousand years of man's life 
for which there are written records. This is the period of history, as 
contrasted with the period, so much longer but so imperfectly known, 
of prehistory. The one is the period of civilization; the other is the 

period of savagery and barbarism. We have also learned how civili¬ 
zation spread in ever widening circles from its original centers in the 
Far East and the Near East, until it came to cover by far the larger 
part of the habitable globe. China and India are the great cultural 
mothers at whose hearths many Oriental nations have lighted their 
own fires, while Occidental nations look back to Rome and Greece 
and, more remotely, to Egypt, Babylonia, and Palestine for the 
essential features of the civilization that is theirs. 

On its material side civilization includes all those arts which 
enable man to win subsistence out of the earth and supply him with 
food, shelter, clothing, and other necessities of life. Tools, machinery, 
factories, houses, vehicles, roads y and other tangible goods make up 
material civilization. It is fundamental, for urgent bodily needs 
must be satisfied before there is leisure or opportunity to satisfy in¬ 
tellectual cravings. We must first live, before we can live well. On 
its immaterial side civilization includes all the ideas and ideals of 
man, as these are expressed in religious and moral systems, codes 
of law, modes of government, literature, art, and science. The real 
civilizing achievements of any age or of any people must be estimated 
in terms of these ideas and ideals, rather than in terms of wealth, 
population, size , and power. A civilization is properly measured by 
the values which it places upon human personality, by the rewards 
which it grants to human merit, and by the quality of its interests 
in the things of the mind and oj the spirit. This is why some little 
peoples, the Hebrews and the Athenians, for example, loom so large 
in history. 


735 



736 Epilogue 

You, who have now read this book, must be impressed by the 
advances which man has made since he began his career so long ago 
as a lowly savage of the Stone Age. Wherever there are now found 
elaborate arts, abstruse sciences, complex institutions, these, we may 
be sure, did not spring forth, like the goddess Athena from the head 
of £eus, fully formed and perfected. The visitor to an archceological 
museum sees an unbroken series of types of implements from the rudest 
stone ones to those of copper, bronze, iron, and steel; and in the collec¬ 
tions of a patent office he observes how particular tools, mechanical 
devices, and machines — the plow, the potter's wheel, the steam 
engine, the automobile — have been derived from earlier forms. Every 
other cultural element likewise shows development, one thing paving 
the way for another and one phase passing into another. The 
same is true of civilization as a whole. History and prehistory unite 
to prove that every existing community, the least advanced as well 
as the most advanced, has reached its present state only by slow and 
gradual steps from a base line of original destitution. Man started 
at a cultural zero. 

It is true that there may be decline, as well as development, of 
civilization. The vanished glories of the Egyptians and Babylonians 
in the Old World and of the Mayas and Incas in the New World 
are familiar instances. The Dark Ages which followed the collapse 
of Roman imperial rule in .western Europe afford an instance still 
more familiar. Decline is real enough, but it is never more than 
local, and it is accompanied by development elsewhere. The Dark 
Ages of western Europe were contemporaneous with the most splendid 
days of the Byzantine Empire in eastern Europe and with the 
flowering of Moslem culture under the Arabs. Since the beginning 
of modern times the Western peoples have forged to the front, and in 
their wake are drawing all mankind. Despite eddies and back¬ 
waters, the main stream of civilization flows on. 

We may close with the words — the very appropriate words — of 
an eminent historian: “ The true object of history is to show us the 
life of the human race in its fullness, and to follow up the tale of 
its continuous and difficult evolution. The conception of the prog¬ 
ress of civilization in intelligible sequence is the greatest achieve¬ 
ment of modern thought 


Appendix 


TABLE OF EVENTS AND DATES 

B.C. 

c. 3400 Written records first kept by the Egyptians. Beginning of history 
in Egypt. 

c. 2100 Code of Hammurabi at Babylon. The earliest known code of laws. 

776 First recorded celebration of the Olympic games. Greek chronology 
begins to be precise from this date. 

753 (?) Rome founded. Traditional date. 

700 (?) The prophet Zoroaster in Persia. The founder of a monotheistic 
religion. 

612 Destruction of Nineveh. End of the Assyrian Empire. 

521-485 Reign of Darius I. The Persian Empire at its height under this 
monarch. 

509 (?) Roman Republic established. Traditional date. 

490 Marathon, 480 Salamis, and 479 Platxa and Mycale. The four battles 
which preserved Greece from Persian domination. 

461-429 Age of Pericles. Athens at this time the “school of Hellas.” 

451-449 Laws of the Twelve Tables published. The basis of all later Roman 
law. 

431-404 The Peloponnesian War. Resulted in the downfall of the Athe¬ 
nian Empire. 

401-400 Expedition of the “ Ten Thousand.” Disclosed to the Greeks the 
weakness of the Persian Empire. 

338 Battle of Chxronea. The triumph of Macedonia over the disunited 
city-states of Greece. 

333 Issus and 331 Arbela. The two battles which overthrew the Persian 
Empire and established Macedonian supremacy throughout the 
Near East. 

202 Battle of Zama. Ended the Second Punic War and left Rome without 
a rival in the western Mediterranean. 

58-50 Conquest of Gaul by Julius Cxsar. Opened up much of western 
Europe to Graeco-Roman civilization. 

31 Battle of Actium. Ended civil war between Antony and Octavian, leav¬ 
ing the latter supreme at Rome. 

4 (?) Birth of Christ. Probable date. 

A.D. 

212 Edict of Caracalla. Extended Roman citizenship to all free-born men 
in the Roman Empire. 


737 


738 


Appendix 


A.D. 

284 Reorganization of the Roman Empire by Diocletian. The imperial 
government henceforth became an absolutism of the Oriental 
type. 

313 “Edict of Milan” Placed Christianity on a legal equality with the 
other religions of the Roman world. 

325 Council of Nicxa. Framed the Creed of Nicsea, which is still the ac¬ 
cepted summary of Christian doctrine in Roman Catholic, Greek, 
and most Protestant Churches. 

330 Constantinople (New Rome) made the capital of the Roman Empire. It 
remained the capital for more than eleven centuries thereafter. 

378 Battle of Adrianople. The defeat of the Romans permitted the Ger¬ 
mans to begin their inroads and settlements. 

395 Final division of the Roman Empire. Henceforth there were two lines 
of Roman emperors. 

451 Battle of Chalons. Saved western Europe from being conquered by the 
barbarous Huns. 

476 Deposition of Romulus Augustulus. Extinction of the line of Roman 
emperors in the West. 

496 Clovis accepted Catholic Christianity. Paved the way for intimate 
relations between the Franks and the Papacy. 

529 (?) Rule of St. Benedict. Established the form of monasticism which 
ultimately prevailed everywhere in western Europe. 

529-534 Codification of Roman law under Justinian. The Corpus Juris 
, Civilis formed a most important contribution of Rome to civi¬ 

lization. 

597 Augustine's mission to the Anglo-Saxons. Made England a Roman 
Catholic country during the Middle Ages. ■ 

622 The Hegira {Flight) of Mohammed from Mecca to Medina. Marks the 
beginning of the Mohammedan era. 

732 Battle of Tours. The victory of the Franks under Charles Martel 
stemmed the advance of the Moslems into western Europe. 

756 “Donation of Pepin.” Endowed the pope with the States of the 
Church. 

800 Charlemagne crowned emperor of the Romans. Revival of the Roman 
Empire in the West. 

843 Treaty of Verdun and 870 Treaty of Mersen. Marked important stages 
in the dissolution of Charlemagne’s dominions. 

962 Otto I, the Great, crowned Roman emperor. Formation of the so-called 
Holy Roman Empire. 

988 Christianity introduced into Russia. The Russians henceforth came 
under the influence of the Greek Church and Byzantine civiliza¬ 
tion. 

1000 (?) Leif Ericsson's voyage to Vinland. Discovery of the New World 
by the Northmen. 

1054 Final rupture of the Greek and Roman Churches. Destroyed the 
religious unity of European Christendom. 

1058 Abbasid Caliphate overthrown by the Seljuk Turks. End of the Arab 
power in the Near East. 


Table of Events and Dates 739 


A.D. 

1066 Battle of Hastings. Resulted in the Norman Conquest of England. 
1077 Humiliation of Henry IV by Gregory VII at Canossa. A striking 
illustration of the power of the Church during the Middle Ages. 
1095 Council of Clermont. Beginning of the Crusades. 

1122 Concordat of Worms. A compromise arrangement between the 
Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire. 

1206-1227 Conquests of Jenghiz Khan. Brought a large part of Asia and 
eastern Europe under Mongol sway. 

1215 Magna Carta. Defined the rights of Englishmen and inspired their 
later struggles for political liberty. 

1271-1295 Travels of Marco Polo. Polo’s narrative of his travels greatly 
increased the interest of Europeans in the Far East. 

1291 Fall of Acre. End of the Crusades. 

1295 “ Model Parliament ” of Edward I. A regularly elected Parliament, 

which for the first time included representatives of all classes of 
the English people. . 

1309-1377 “ Babylonian Captivity ” of the Papacy. The removal of the 

popes to Avignon weakened their political authority. 

1337-1453 Hundred Years' War. Put an end to the Continental ambi¬ 
tions of England and made possible the complete unification of 
France. 

1348-1349 Black Death in Europe. Hastened the decline of serfdom and 
the emancipation of the peasantry. 

1378-1417 The “Great Schism.” Weakened the spiritual supremacy of 
the popes over western Christendom. 

1396 Greek first taught at Florence, Italy. The revival of Greek studies in 
western Europe formed an important aspect of the Renaissance. 

1453 Constantinople captured by the Ottoman Turks. End of the Byzan¬ 

tine Empire. 

1454 (?) First large book printed at Gutenberg's press in Mainz, Germany. 

Printing ranks among the most epochal of inventions. 

1479 Union of Castile and Aragon under Ferdinand and Isabella. An im¬ 
portant step in the unification of Spain. 

1487 Cape of Good Hope rounded by Diaz. Completed the Portuguese ex¬ 
ploration of the western coast of Africa. 

1492 Discovery of America by Columbus. Revealed a New World and in¬ 
augurated the Atlantic period of European history. 

1497 North America rediscovered by John Cabot. Provided the basis for 

the claims of England to colonize North America. 

1498 India reached by Vasco da Gama. The Portuguese thus opened up 

an ocean passage from Europe around Africa to the Far East. 
1517 Luther's Ninety-five Theses posted. Beginning of the Protestant 
Reformation in Germany. 

1519-1522 Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe. A landmark in the 
history of geographical exploration. 

1543 Publication of the Copernican theory. Resulted in the adoption of a 
new system of astronomy, by which man’s outlook on the uni¬ 
verse has been fundamentally changed. 


740 


Appendix 


A.D. 

1545 Silver mines of Potosi in Bolivia discovered. The enormous output 
of silver from these mines greatly enlarged the supply of money 
in western Europe, thus stimulating business enterprise. 
1545-1563 Council of Trent. An important agency in the Catholic 
Counter Reformation. 

1555 Peace of Augsburg. Closed the first period of the Reformation in 
Germany. 

1558-1603 Reign of Elizabeth. A brilliant period of English history. 
1577-1580 Drake's voyage around the world. The first circumnavigation 
by an Englishman. 

1588 Defeat of the Spanish Armada. Gave to England control of the sea 
and made possible English colonization of North America. 

1698 Edict of Nantes issued by Henry IV of France. A noteworthy step 
in the direction of religious toleration. 

1607 Settlement of Jamestown. The first permanent English colony in 
America. 

1618-1648 The Thirty Years' War. A great international conflict, partly 
religious and partly political in character. 

1620 Landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. The second permanent English 
colony in America. 

1625 Grotius's “On the Law of War and Peace” published. Founded the 
study of international law. 

1642- 1649 The Puritan Revolution. Arrested the growth of absolutism 

and divine right in England. 

1643- 1715 Reign of Louis XIV. A brilliant period of French history. 
1648 Peace of Westphalia. Ended the religious wars. 

1688- 1689 The “Glorious Revolution.” Completed the work of the Pu¬ 

ritan Revolution by overthrowing absolutism and divine right in 
England. 

1689 Bill of Rights. Renewed and expanded Magna Carta. 

1689- 1725 Reign of Peter the Great. Europeanization of Russia began un¬ 

der this monarch. 

1713 Peace of Utrecht. Ended the War of the Spanish Succession. 
1740-1786 Reign of Frederick the Great. Prussia became a leading Euro¬ 
pean power under this monarch. 

1762 Rousseau's “Social Contract” published. Its democratic teachings 

were put into effect by the French revolutionists. 

1763 Peace of Paris. Ended the Seven Years’ War and gave to England 

a colonial empire in India and in North America at the expense 
of France. 

1768-1779 Voyages of Captain James Cook. Greatly increased geographi¬ 
cal knowledge of the Pacific Ocean and its archipelagoes. 

1776 Declaration of Independence. The birth of a new nation in the New 
World. 

1783 Peace of Paris and Versailles. Ended the War of the American 
Revolution. 

1789 Constitution of the United States adopted. Established a Federal 
Union rather than a mere league of states. 


Index and Pronouncing 
i icabulary 


Note. — The pronunciation of most proper names is indicated either by a simplified 
spelling or by their accentuation and division into syllables. The diacritical marks em¬ 
ployed are those found in Webster’s New International Dictionary and are the following: 


a as in ale. 

o 

as 

in old. 

oi 

as in oil. 

a 

CC CC 

senate. 

6 

cc 

CC 

obey. 

ch 

CC CC 

chair. 

a 

u cc 

care. 

6 

cc 

CC 

orb. 

g 

CC cc 

go. 

a 

cc u 

am. 

6 

cc 

cc 

odd. 

ng 

cc cc 

sing. 

d 

a u 

account. 

6 

cc 

cc 

soft. 

U 

cc cc 

h)k. 

a 

u u 

arm. 

6 

cc 

cc 

connect. 

th 

cc cc 

then. 

a 

it cc 

ask. 

u 

cc 

cc 

use. 

th 

cc cc 

thin. 

d 

cc cc 

sofd. 

u 

cc 

cc 

unite. 

tu 

cc cc 

nature. 

e 

cc cc 

eve. 

h 

cc 

cc 

urn. 

du 

cc cc 

verdure. 

e 

cc cc 

event. 

u 

cc 

cc 

up. 

k for ch as in Ger. ich, ach. 

e 

cc cc 

end. 

a 

cc 

cc 

circws. 

n as in Fr. bon. 

e 

cc cc 

recent. 

ti 

cc 

cc 

menu. 

y 

cc cc 

yet. 

e 

cc cc 

maker. 

oo 

cc 

cc 

food. 

zh for z as in azure. 

I 

cc cc 

Ice. 

do 

cc 

cc 

foot. 




I 

cc cc 

ill. 

ou 

cc 

cc 

out. 





Ab-bas'ids, 467-468. 

Abbot, 432-433. 

Abelard (Fr. pron. a-ba-lar'), Peter* 
567-568. 

Absolutism, in modern Europe, 665- 
666, 674, 683, 686, 691-692. 

Abu Bekr (a/boo bek'’r), 456, 467. 
Academy, the, at Athens, 187, 195. 
Achaea (d-ke'd), 481. 

Achaean League, 172-173. 

Achilles (d-kil'ez), 110. 

Acre (a'ker), 480, 482. 

A-crop'o-lis, the Athenian, 146. 

Act of Settlement, the, 695, 696. 

Act of Supremacy, the, 643. 

Actium (ak'shi-wm), naval battle of, 
263-264, 265. 

Acts of the Apostles , the, 286. 


A-dri-a-no'ple, battle of, 343-344. 
yEgean (e-je'dn) civilization, 103- 
108. 

yEgean Sea, 102, 144. 
iE-gos-pot'a-mi, battle of, 150. 
vEneas (e-ne'ds), 217, 309. 

AEneid (e-ne'id), Virgil’s, 309. 
iEschylus (es'ki-lus), Greek drama¬ 
tist, 191. 

AEsop’s Fables , 181. 

/Etolian League, 172. 

Africa, North, Phoenician colonists 
in, 77; as a Roman province, 246; 
Vandal kingdom in, 347; con¬ 
quered by the Arabs, 462-463; as a 
caliphate, 467. 

Africa, Portuguese exploration of, 
613-614. 


741 


742 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


Africa, South, colonized by the Dutch, 
709. 

Agincourt (a-zhan-koor'), battle of, 
519-520. 

Ag'o-ra, the Athenian, 186. 

Agrarian law of Tiberius Gracchus, 
252. 

Agriculture, beginnings of, 14; in 
ancient Egypt and Babylonia, 50, 
70-71; early Roman, 219; decline 
of Roman, 250, 252; medieval, 416; 
Arab improvements in, 464. 

Ah'ri-man, 83. 

Ahura Mazda (a-hoo-rd-maz'dd), 83, 
323. 

“Aids,” the feudal, 401. 

Aix-la-Chapelle (aks-la-sha-pel'), 

Peace of, 685, 712. 

Al-a-man'ni, the, 362, 363. 

Al'a-ric the Visigoth, 344-346. 

Alaska, 732. 

Al'ba Lon'ga, 215, 217. 

Albany Congress, the, 720. 

Albigenses (al-bi-jen'sez), 634-635. 

Alchemy, 574. 

Al-ci-bi'a-des, 149. 

Alexander the Great, 153, 160, 161- 
162, 164-169, 170, 261. 

Alexander III, pope, 446-447; VI, 
619. 

Al-ex-an'dri-a, founded by Alexander 
the Great, 166; as a commercial 
center, 171-172, 175; as a home of 
learning, 173-174, 197, 199, 297; 
population of, 286. 

Alfred the Great, king of England, 
389-391. 

Al-ham'bra, the, 524. 

A'li, fourth caliph, 467. 

Allah (al'd), 454, 455. 

Al'li-a River, battle of the, 230. 

Almagest , Ptolemy’s, 199. 

Alphabet, development of, 28-32; 
Etruscan, 214; Runic, 382. 

Alsace (al-sas'), 362, 659, 676. 

Am-en-ho'tep IV, Egyptian king, 82. 

America, the Northmen in, 386-387; 
discovered by Columbus, 615; the 
Indians in, 620-623; Spanish ex¬ 


plorations and conquests in, 624; 
English and French explorations in, 
625, 714-717; effect of discovery of, 
on Europe, 625-628; settlement of, 
714-717. 

American. Re volution, the, 722, 723- 
727. 

Am-phic'ty-o-nies, 126. 

Amphitheaters, Roman, 314. 

Amusements, Athenian, 188-190; Ro¬ 
man, 302-305; in the feudal castle, 
410; medieval, 578-582. See also 
Festivals. 

An-ab'a-sis, Xenophon’s, 163-164, 
192. 

Anagni (a-nan'ye), 631. 

Anatomy, 199, 602. 

Ancestor worship, Chinese, 41; Ro¬ 
man, 221, 270. 

Angles, the, 341-342, 348. 

Anglicanism, establishment of, in 
England, 643-644; extent of, 646; 
under the Stuarts, 687-688, 694. 

An'glo-Sax'ons, the, conquer Britain, 
374-376; their kingdoms in Britain, 
376; converted to Roman Chris¬ 
tianity, 376-377, 435; their culture, 
377; language of the, 377. 

Animal shows, 303-304. 

Animal worship, 80-81. 

Animals, domestication of, 14, 46, 
621. 

Anne, queen of England, 696. 

An-tig'o-nus, 170. 

Antioch (an'ti-ok), 172, 286, 292, 460, 
475-476; principality of, 477. 

Antonine Caesars, the, 272-273. 

An-to-ni'nus Pi'us, Roman emperor, 
272. 

An-to'ni-us, Mar'cus. See Antony. 

Antony, 261, 262-264. 

Antwerp, 553, 626. 

A-pol'lo, attributes of, 112, 183; his 
oracle at Delphi, 113-115; aboli¬ 
tion of the oracle, 335 

Apostles, the Twelve, 324-326, 441. 

Appian Way, the, 234, 306. 

Aqueducts, Roman, 312. 

Aquinas (d-kwi'nds), St-. Thomas, 571. 


743 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


Arabia, physical features of, 452. 

Ar'abs, the, defeated by Charles Mar¬ 
tel, 365, 372; defeated by Charle¬ 
magne, 368; characteristics of, 452- 
454; migratory and sedentary, 452- 
454; their culture, 454, 464-466; 
under Mohammed, 456; as foes of 
the Roman Empire in the East, 460; 
their conquests, 460; overrun by 
the Seljuk Turks, 468; influence of 
their scholars, 572. See also Mos¬ 
lems. 

Aragon (a-ra-gon'), kingdom of, 522, 
523. 

Ar-a-mae'ans, the, 52. 

Ar-be'la, battle of, 166. 

Ar-ca'di-us, Roman emperor in the 
East, 344. 

Arch, the round, 90, 214, 310-311, 
564, 565; the pointed, 465, 565. 

Archbishop, church official, 330, 427. 

Ar-chi-n^e'des, 198. 

Architecture, Egyptian, Babylonian, 
and Assyrian, 86-88; ^Egean, 107; 
Greek, 185, 203-205, 598; Roman, 
205, 221-222, 298-300, 310-316, 
598; Byzantine, 488-489; Arab, 
465-466, 565; medieval, 562-567; 
Renaissance, 598, 601. 

Ar'gos, 119. 

Arian heresy, the, nature of, 335; 
accepted by the Germanic invaders, 
335, 435. 

Aristarchus (ar-is-tar'kws), 198. 

Ar-is-ti'des, 133-134, 138-139. 

Ar-is-toph'a-nes, Athenian drama¬ 
tist, 191-192. 

Aristotle (S.r'is-tot’1), Greek philoso¬ 
pher, 195-196, 197, 466, 571, 592, 
594, 603. 

Arithmetic, 198, 572. 

A'ri-us, 335. 

“Armada (ar-ma'da), Invincible,” 
the, 653, 654-655, 717. 

Armenia, 273, 496. 

Armor, medieval, 405-406. 

Army, Macedonian, under Philip II, 
157-158; Roman, during the early 
republic, 234-236; under the em¬ 


pire, 280-281; the feudal, 405; 
French, under Louis XIV, 674. 

Art, Palaeolithic, 9-10; Oriental, 71; 
Aegean, 107; Greek, 146, 203-207; 
Roman, 310-316; Norman, 383; 
Arab, 465-466; Byzantine, 488- 
489; Renaissance, 598-600, 601. 
See also Architecture, Painting, 
Sculpture. 

Arthur, King, myth of, 560-561, 616. 

Articles of Confederation, the, 727- 
729. 

Artisans, Oriental, 69; Athenian, 144; 
Roman, under the Empire, 288-290; 
Arab, 464; in the Middle Ages, 
537, 538; in the seventeenth and 
eighteenth centuries, 668-670. See 
also Guilds. 

Aryans, 42-43. 

Asceticism, 429-430. 

Asia, physical features of, 37-39; 
physical contrasts between Europe 
and, 39; Roman province of, 248; 
medieval explorations in, 610-612. 

Asia Minor, 103, 164, 172, 475, 496. 

Assembly, of freemen, in early Greece, 
119; Spartan, 120; Athenian, 143; 
of the Achaean League, 172; Roman 
assemblies, 225, 226-227, 233, 253, 
260. 

As-syr'i-a, rise of, 56; under Sargon 
II and Sennacherib, 56-57; down¬ 
fall and partition of, 58-59; mounds 
of, 66; slavery in, 70; commerce of, 
75; architecture of, 87-88; sculp¬ 
ture of, 88. 

Astrolabe, the, 612. 

Astrology, Babylonian, 82; in the 
Middle Ages, 574-575. 

Astronomy, Egyptian and Baby¬ 
lonian, 89; Greek, 197, 198-199; 
Arab, 465; medieval, 572; during 
the Renaissance, 602; Mayan, 621- 
622. 

Ath-a-na'si-us, 335. 

A-the'na, 112, 223; temple of, 146, 
204; festival of, 188. 

Athens, early history of, 120-123; aids 
the Ionian Greeks, 131; repulses the 


744 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


Persians at Marathon, 132-133; 
abandoned to Xerxes, 136; declines 
the offer of Mardonius, 136-137; 
rebuilding and fortification of, 138; 
under Themistocles, Aristides, and 
Cimon, 138-140; rivalry with 
Sparta, 140, 148-150; under Peri¬ 
cles, 140-146; imperialism of, 142; 
democracy of, 142-144; industries 
of, 144; commerce of, 144-146; 
as an artistic and intellectual cen¬ 
ter, 146-148, 298; slavery in, 147; 
citizenship in, 147-148; the Pelo¬ 
ponnesian War, 148-150; unites 
with Thebes against Philip, 159; 
under Philip, 160; schools in, 
179-180; daily life in, 186-188; 
amusements in, 188-190; under the 
Roman Empire, 286. 

Athletics, Greek, 112-117, 180. 

At-lan'tis, myth of, 616. 

At'ti-ca, 120, 121, 138, 144, 149. 

At'ti-la the Hun, 348-349, 440. 

Augsburg (ouks'boorK), city, 551; 
Peace of, 651, 656. 

Au'gu-ry, Roman, 223. 

Au-gus'tine, missionary to the Anglo- 
Saxons, 376, 435. 

Au-gus'tus, as emperor, 268-269, 288, 
292, 324, 341; the Augustan Age, 
269-270, 309; deification of, 270. 

Au-re'li-us, Marcus, Roman emperor, 
272, 274-275, 321. 

Aus'pi-ces, Roman, 223. 

Australia, 730, 731. 

Austria, part of Charlemagne’s king¬ 
dom, 368; the East Mark, 373; 
under Rudolf of Hapsburg, 448, 
524; the Hapsburg realm, 524-525; 
Switzerland and, 525; under Maria 
Theresa, 681-682; at war with 
Prussia, 684-685; under Joseph II, 
702. 

Austrian Succession, the, War of, 
684-685, 712, 720, 722. 

Avignon (a-ven-yoN'), residence of 
the popes at, 631. 

Azores (a-zorz') Islands, 613. 

Aztec Indians, the, 622, 624. 


Ba'ber, 711. 

Bab'y-lon, 166, 168. 

Bab-y-lo'ni-a, an early center of civ¬ 
ilization, 3, 14, 18, 33, 92; physical 
features and productions of, 50-51; 
early inhabitants of, 51; under 
Sargon, 51; under Hammurabi, 51- 
52; under Nebuchadnezzar, 58-59; 
mounds of, 66; government of, 67- 
68; slavery in, 69-70; occupations 
in, 70-73; commerce of, 75; laws 
of, 78-79; religion in, 81-82, 85; 
literature of, 85-86; architecture 
of, 87; sculpture, 88; science and 
education in, 89-91; influence on 
Etruscans, 214. 

“Babylonian Captivity” of the 
Church, the, 631-632. 

Bacon, Roger, 572-573, 575; Francis, 
603. 

Bagdad (bag-dad'), as a commercial 
center, 465, 543; as a center of 
learning, 466; capital of the Ab- 
basid caliphate, 467-468. 

Balboa (bal-bo'a), 624. 

Balder, myth of, 383-384. 

Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, 476. 

Ball, John, 420-421, 612-613. 

Banking, in the Orient, 72-73; during 
the Middle Ages, 544-547, 548. 

Ban'nock-burn, battle of, 513. 

Barbarism, 4. 

Ba-sil'i-cas, Roman, 312. 

Bas-reliefs, 57, 60, 206, 313-314, 315. 

Batavia, 709. 

Baths, Roman, 289-290, 301-302, 313. 

Bayeux tapestry, the, 390, 576. 

Bed'ou-ins, the, 452-454. 

Behaim (ba'hlm), Martin, 617. 

Behistun (ba-his-toon') Rock, the, 65. 

Belgium, 364, 368, 653. 

“Benefit of clergy,” 428. 

Bengal (ben-gol'), 714. 

Ber'bers, the, 463. 

Bergen, 551. 

Bering, Vitus, 732. 

Bethlehem, 324, 476. 

Bible. See Old Testament and New 
Testament. 


745 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


Biblical translations, 174, 601, 635, 
639, 640, 680. 

Bill of Rights, the, 694-695. 

Bishop, church official, 328-330, 426- 
427. 

“Black Death,” the, 420. 

“Black Hole” of Calcutta, 712-714. 

“Black Prince,” the, 518-519. 

Blenheim (blen'im), battle of, 676. 

Boccaccio (bok-ka'cho), 594-595. 

Boers (boors), the, 709. 

Bohemia, 525. 

Boleyn (bdol'in), Anne, 642-643, 644. 

Bologna (bo-lon'ya), University of, 
568, 569. 

Bon'i-face, missionary, 436; VIII, 
pope, 631. 

Book of Common Prayer , the, 643, 688. 

Book of the Dead, Egyptian, 77-78, 85. 

Bourbon (boor'bun) dynasty, the, 
655, 671, 677. 

Bourgeoisie (boor-zhwa-ze'), the, 668. 

Brahmanism, 43. 

Brandenburg (bran'dm-bdorK), 659, 
683. 

Brazil, 623-624. 

Brennus, Gallic chieftain, 230-231. 

Britain, visited by Pytheas, 200; 
Caesar’s expeditions to, 258; be¬ 
comes a Roman province, 271; 
overrun by the Jutes, Angles, and 
Saxons, 347-348; nature of the 
Anglo-Saxon conquest of, 374-376; 
Christianity introduced into, 376- 
377, 435. 

British Isles, the, the Gauls in, 258; 
Christianity in, 376-377, 435; 

unification of, under English kings, 
512, 513. 

Bronze, 15, 110, 599, 621. 

Bruce, Robert, 513. 

Bruges (Fr. pron. briizh), 538, 543, 
551, 553, 626: 

Bru'tus, 261, 262-263. 

Bubonic plague, the, 420. 

Buddha (boo'dd), Gautama, 43. 

“Bulls,” papal, 442. 

Bur-gun'di-ans, the, position of, before 
the invasions, 341; found a kingdom 


in Gaul, 347; conquered by the 
Franks, 347, 363; become Catholic 
Christians, 435. 

Bur'gun-dy, 347. 

Buttress, the flying, 564-565. 

“Byzantine Empire,” the, 487-499. 

Byzantium (bl-zan'shi-wm), 124, 278, 
487. See also Constantinople. 

Cabinet system, in England, 696, 730. 

Cabot, John, 387, 717. 

Cadiz (ka'dez), 77, 626. 

Caesar (se'zdr), Gaius Julius, 172, 
257-262, 265, 282, 307, 339. 

Csesars, the Julian and Claudian, 
270-271; the Flavian, 271-272; the 
Antonine, 272-273. 

Cairo (kl'ro), 45, 460, 466, 467, 484. 

Calais (Fr. pron. ka-le'), 521. 

Calendar, Egyptian, 89; Caesar’s re¬ 
form of the, 260; Moslem, 456; 
the Maya, 621-622; the old Rus¬ 
sian, 680. 

Ca-lig'u-la, Roman emperor, 271. 

Caliph (ka'lif), the title, 467. 

Cal'iph-ate, the, 467-468. 

Calvin, John, 640-641, 655. 

Calvinism, its organization and doc¬ 
trines, 641; diffusion of, 641-642. 

Cambridge, University of, 569, 570. 

Cam-by'ses, Persian king, 59, 129. 

Camp, the Roman fortified, 235-236. 

Campania, 213, 215, 231. 

Canaan (ka/nan), 53-56. 

Canada, French in, 672, 714-716; 
acquired by Great Britain, 721; 
settled by the “Tories,” 726. 

Can'nse, battle of, 244. 

Canon law. See Law. 

Ca-nos'sa, humiliation of Henry IV 
at, 446. 

Canterbury, 376-377. 

Canterbury Tales , Chaucer’s, 559, 595, 
605. 

Canute (kd-nut'), king of England, 391. 

Capet (Fr. pron. ka-pe'), Hugh, king 
of France, 389, 514, 515-516, 558. 

Capetian (kd-pe'shdn) dynasty, the, 
514-515. 


746 Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


Capital, the, in Egyptian architecture, 
87; in Greek architecture, 204, 205; 
in Arabian architecture, 466. 

Car-a-cal'la, Edict of, 283. 

Carcassonne (kar-ka-son'), 533. 

Cardinals, college of, 442, 647. 

Cards, playing, 587. 

“Career of honors,” Roman, 227- 
229. 

Car-o-lin'gi-an dynasty, the, 365. 

Car'thage, a Phoenician colony, 77, 
239-240; a rival of the Greeks in 
the western Mediterranean, 124- 
125; the Carthaginians in Sicily, 
232; a rival of Rome, 239; Cartha¬ 
ginian commercial empire and civ¬ 
ilization, 240; First Punic War, 
241-242; Second Punic War, 242- 
245; destroyed at close of the Third 
Punic War, 245-246; rebuilt, 286; 
taken by the Vandals, 347; made 
the capital of the Vandal kingdom, 
349; again destroyed by the Arabs, 
462. 

Cartier, Jacques (kar-tya', zhak'), 714. 

Cassius (kash'ws), 261, 262-263. 

Castile (kas-tel'), kingdom of, 522, 
523. 

Castles, feudal, 407-410. 

Ca-thay'. See China. 

Cathedrals, 370, 427, 550, 562-566. 

Catherine of Aragon, 642. 

Catherine the Great, 700-701. 

Catholicism, 331. 

Cat'i-line, conspiracy of, 257. 

Catullus, 307-309. 

Caucasian race, 12-13, 22, 23, 24. 

“Cavaliers,” the, 689. 

Caxton, William, 597. 

Celibacy, clerical, 330, 645. 

Celtiberians, the, 522. 

Celtic Church, the, 435-436. 

Celts (selts), the, an Indo-European 
people, 100; in Gaul and Britain, 
269, 376; conversion of, 435-436; 
in Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, 
512, 513; in France, 514; in Spain, 
522. 

Cen'sors, Roman, 227. 


Central America, 18, 618, 621. 

Cervantes (ser-van'tez), 604-605. 

Chaeronea (ker-6-ne'd), battle of, 159- 
160. 

Chalcidice (kal-sid'i-ce), peninsula of, 
158. 

Chaldea (kal-de'd). See Babylonia. 

Chalons (sha-loN'), battle of, 349. 

Champlain (sham-plan'), Samuel de, 
714-715. 

Champollion, (shaN-pol-yoN'), Fran¬ 
cois, 65. 

Channel Islands, 521. 

Chariot races, Roman, 303. 

Charity, in the Middle Ages, 448. 

Charlemagne (shar'le-man), 352, 367- 
371, 374, 397, 398, 436, 443, 467, 
487, 560, 562, 567. 

Charles the Bald, 371-372. 

Charles Martel, 364-365, 463. 

Charles I, king of England, 688-690; 
II, 692-693. 

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, 
524, 619, 638, 642, 650-652; VI, 
682. 

Charters, civic, 534. 

Chaucer, Geoffrey, 559, 595, 605-606. 

Checkers, 578. 

Chemistry, Arab, 465; medieval, 572; 
alchemy and, 574. 

Cheops (ke'ops), 47. 

Chess, 578. 

Children’s Crusade, the, 482. 

China, beginnings of history in, 16, 18, 
33, 40; civilization of, 40-42, 596, 
597; stability of, 41-42; conquered 
by the Mongols, 495; visited by 
the Polos, 612, 731; Portuguese 
trade with, 613, 623. 

Chivalry. See Knighthood. 

Christ, 326, 331, 335. 

“Christian Year,” the, 331. 

Christianity, preparation for, 321- 
323; rise and spread of, 324-328; 
organization and development of 
the Christian Church, 328-332; 
the Persecutions, 332-334; triumph 
of, in the Roman Empire, 334-335; 
influence of, on ancient society, 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 747 


336—337. See also Celtic Church, 
Greek Church, Protestants, Roman 
Church. 

Chrysoloras (kris-6-lo'ras), 595. 

Church of England. See Anglicanism. 

Churches, Christian, 312, 328, 330- 
331, 562-563; Byzantine, 488-489. 

Cicero (sis'e-ro), Marcus Tullius, 172, 
221, 255-257, 259, 261, 297, 307, 
594, 595. 

Cid, the, 523. 

Cimon (sl'mon), Athenian statesman, 
139-140. 

Cincinnatus, 249. 

Ci-pan'go. See Japan. 

Circuses, Roman, 314. 

Cities, Hellenistic, 171-173; during 
the Roman Republic, 250; in the 
Roman imperial age, 286-287; de¬ 
cline of, during the Germanic in¬ 
vasions, 414; revival of, during the 
later Middle Ages, 531-535; and 
feudalism, 532-534; Italian, 534, 
547-550; German, 534, 550-552; 
city life, 535-537; civic industry 
and trade, 537-543; money and 
banking in, 544-547; Flemish, 552- 
554; medieval, and civilization, 
553-554. 

Citizenship, in the Greek city-state, 
118; in Athens, 147-148; in early 
Rome, 226, 232; the Italians and 
Roman, 232-233, 254; extension of 
Roman, to the provincials, 260, 
282-283; privileges of Roman, 283- 
284. 

City-state, the Greek, 117-119, 120- 
123, 125, 126; the great age of, 
129-152; decline of, 152-153; after 
Alexander, 172; the Roman, 224- 
226. 

Civilization, nature of, 3, 14; centers 
of early, 3, 17, 18, 92; Oriental, 35- 
61, 64-92; Aegean, 103-108; the 
Homeric Age, 109-112; the Hellen¬ 
istic Age, 173-175, 197; the Graeco- 
Oriental world, 176; Greek, 179- 
207; Etruscan, 214, 223; Cartha¬ 
ginian, 240; the Graeco-Oriental- 


Roman world, 292-293; Roman, 
307-316; Arabian, 454, 464-466; 
Byzantine, 488-491; medieval, 557- 
585. 

Claudius, Roman emperor, 271, 282. 

Clement VII, pope, 632. 

Cle-o-pa'tra, 263-264. 

Clergy, the, 330, 425-427, 667. 

Cler'mont, Council of, 474, 475. 

Clis'the-nes, Athenian reformer, 122- 
123. 

Clive, Robert, 712-714. 

Clotilda, 363. 

Clovis, king of the Franks, 362-363. 

Cnossus (nos'^s), Evans’s excavations 
at, 105-106. 

Coinage, a Lydian invention, 72. 

Colbert (kol-bar'), Jean, 672. 

Cologne, 531, 539, 551. 

Colonial policies, 623, 624, 706, 723- 
725. 

Colonies, Phoenician, 77; Greek, 123- 
125, 213; Latin, in Italy, 233; 
Portuguese, 623-624; Spanish, 624- 
625; French, 672, 674; Dutch, 707- 
710; English, 717. 

Col-os-se'um, the, 314. 

Columbus, Christopher, 202, 387, 615, 
616-618. 

Comedy, Athenian, 191-192; at 
Rome, 302. 

Commandments, the Ten, 78, 80. 

Commentaries, Caesar’s, 258-259, 307, 
339. 

Commerce, early obstacles to, 73; 
Egyptian, 75; Babylonian and As¬ 
syrian, 75; Phoenician, 75, 76; 
iEgean, 107-108; absence of, 
in Homeric Age, 110; Athenian, 
144-146; Roman, 288-290; Ara¬ 
bian, 464-465; influence of the Cru¬ 
sades on, 484, 542; Byzantine, 488; 
medieval, 540-543; Genoese, 549; 
Venetian, 549; Hanseatic, 551; 
Flemish, 552; effect of the mari¬ 
time discoveries on, 615, 626; 
Portuguese, 623; Spanish, 624; 
Dutch, 707; in the Thirteen Colo¬ 
nies, 723-724. 


748 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


Commonwealth, the, England under, 
690-691. 

Companies, trading, 706-707. 

Compass, the mariner’s, 465, 573. 

Concordat of Worms, the, 446. 

Confucius, 41. 

Congregational Church, the, 641. 

Constance, Council of, 632, 635-636. 

Constantine (kon'stdn-tin) the Great, 
becomes sole Roman emperor, 278; 
founds Constantinople, 278-279; 
attitude of, toward Christianity, 
278, 279, 334-335; Arch of, 314. 

Constantinople, founding of, 124, 278- 
279; survival of, as capital of 
Empire in the East, 354; besieged 
by the Arabs, 462; threatened by 
the Seljuk Turks, 474; captured 
by the crusaders, 481; Latin Em¬ 
pire of, 481; siege and capture of, 
by the Ottoman Turks, 482, 497- 
499; as the center of Byzantine 
civilization, 488-492; situation of, 
491, 492. 

Constitution, American, 694, 698, 729- 
730. 

Consuls, Roman, 225. 

Continental Congress, First, 725; 
Second, 725. 

Cook, Captain James, 202, 731-732. 

Co-per'ni-cus, 199, 602, 603. 

Copper, 15, 621. 

Cor-cy'ra, 149. 

Cor'do-va, 464, 466, 467, 489. 

Corinth, the kingship abolished in, 
119; emigrants from, found Syra¬ 
cuse, 124; precipitates the Pelo¬ 
ponnesian War, 148-149; Panhel- 
lenic congress at, 337 b.c., 160; 
sacked and burned by the Romans, 
247; refounded, 286. 

Cornwallis, 726. 

Cor'pus Ju'ris Ci-vi'lis, 490, 568. 

Correggio (kor-red'jo), 600. 

Corsica, 124, 214, 240. 

Cortes (Span. pron. kor-tas'), 624. 

Cossacks, the, 680. 

Costume, Greek, 184-185; Roman, 
298; medieval, 583-584. 


Councils, Church: Nicaea, 335, 474; 
Lateran Palace, 444; Constance, 
632, 635-636; Trent, 649. 

Counter Reformation, the Catholic, 
647-650. 

Courts, Athenian, 143; feudal, 402- 
404; ecclesiastical, 427, 647, 650; 
English, 505; royal, in the Middle 
Ages, 505, 517; American, 729-730. 

Craft guild. See Guilds. 

Cras'sus, 258, 259. 

Crecy (kra-se'), battle of, 518. 

Crete, an early center of civilization, 
14, 15, 30-31, 92, 103-108. 

Croesus (kre'sws), Lydian king, 72, 
114-115. 

Cromwell, Oliver, 689-691. 

Crusades, the, causes of, 471-473; 
First Crusade, 473-476; crusaders’ 
states in Syria, 476-477; Second 
and Third, 478-480; Fourth Cru¬ 
sade and the Latin Empire at Con¬ 
stantinople, 480-482; Children’s 
Crusade, 482; end of, 482; results 
of, 483-485, 542, 610. 

Cumae (kii'me), 124. 

Cu-nax'a, battle of, 162. 

Cu-ne'i-form writing, 30, 65, 90. 

Cymric (kim'rik), 512. 

Cyprus, an early center of civilization, 
14, 15; conquered by Egypt, 48; 
colonized by the Greeks, 125; con¬ 
quered by Cambyses, 129; as a 
barrier to Moslem expansion, 482. 

Cyrene (si-re'ne), 125, 129, 166, 240. 

Cy'rus the Great, 59, 129; the 
Younger, 162. 

Czechoslovakia, 368. 

Dacia (da'shl-d), 273, 275, 343. 

Da Gama, Vasco, 614-615. 

Damascus, 52, 460, 464, 467, 468, 484. 

Dane'law, the, 390. 

Danes, the, converted to Christianity, 
384; in England, 389-391. 

Dante Alighieri (dan'ta a-le-gya're), 
592-594. 

Da-ri'us I, the Great, 59, 60-61, 65, 
129-132, 134; III, 164, 166. 


749 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


David, Hebrew king, 54. 

De-cam'er-on, the, 594-595. 

Declaration of Independence, the, 697, 
725, 727. 

Declaration of Innocence, the, 78. 

De'li-an League, the, formation and 
constitution of, 138-139; becomes 
subject to Athens, 140, 144, 146. 

De'los, 126, 139. 

Delphi (del'fi), 113, 115. 

Delphic oracle, described, 113-114; 
predictions and utterances of, 114- 
115, 149, 194; abolished, 115, 335. 

Demarcation Line, the, 619. 

De-me'ter, the Eleusinian mysteries in 
honor of, 322. 

Democracy, rise of, at Athens, 121- 
123; characteristics of Athenian, 
140-144; destroyed by Sparta, 150; 
Roman, 226-227; of the Church, 
449; in the Italian cities of the 
Renaissance, 591-592; in Holland, 
654. 

De-moc'ri-tus, 197. 

De-mos'the-nes, Athenian orator and 
statesman, 158-159, 162. 

Denmark, 347, 371, 380, 384. 

Diaz (de'ath), Rodrigo, 523; Bar¬ 
tholomew, 614. 

Dioceses of the Roman Empire, 277. 

Diocletian (di-6-kle'shan), Roman 
emperor, 276-277, 333, 334. 

Dionysus (di-6-ni'sws), festivals of, 
188-189, 190. 

Divination, Babylonian, 81, 214; 

Etruscan, 214; Roman, 223; me¬ 
dieval, 577-578. 

Divine Comedy , the, 592, 594. 

Divine right of kings, the, 665-666. 

Domesday (domz'da) Book, 504-505. 

Do-min'i-cans, order of the, 438. 

Domitian (do-rmsh'i-tm), Roman em¬ 
peror, 272. 

“Donation of Pepin,” the, 365. 

“Do-nothing kings,” the, 364. 

Don Quixote (Span. pron. don 
ke-ho'ta), 604-605. 

Doric order of architecture, 203, 204. 

Dra'co, laws of, 121-122. 


Drake, Sir Francis, 654, 655, 731. 

Drama, Athenian, 189-190; Roman, 
302; medieval, 581-582; Shake¬ 
spearian, 607. 

Dramatists, Athenian, 191-192. 

Duel, the judicial, 404. 

Dupleix (dii-pleks'), 712. 

Dwellings, of the Greeks, 185-186; 
of the Romans, 221-222, 298-300; 
the castle, 407-410; medieval, 582; 
of the Renaissance, 601. 

East Goths. See Ostrogoths. 

East India Company, Dutch, 707- 
709, 731; French, 711; English, 
711. 

East Indies, Dutch, 711. 

East Mark, 373. See also Austria. 

Economic conditions, in the Orient, 
70-73; in Homeric Greece, 110-111; 
in Athens, at the time of Solon, 
122; in Athens, during the Age of 
Pericles, 144-146; during the Hel¬ 
lenistic Age, 174-175; in early 
Rome, 219-220, 250; under the 
Empire, 288-291; during the feudal 
period and the later Middle Ages, 
414, 417-422; during early modern 
times, 666-670. 

E-des'sa, principality of, 477, 478. 

Edicts: Caracalla, 283; Galerius, 
334; Milan, 334; Nantes, 565. 

Education, Oriental, 90-91; Spartan, 
120-121; Hellenistic, 173-174; 
Greek, 179-182; Roman, 292, 296- 
298; in the early Middle Ages, 
369; Arab, 466; Byzantine, 489; 
medieval universities, 567-570; 
scholasticism, 570-572; Renais¬ 
sance, 595; Jesuit, 648. 

Edward the Confessor, king of Eng¬ 
land, 391. 

Edward I, king of England, “Model 
Parliament ” of, 510, 546; conquest 
of Wales and Scotland by, 512, 513; 
II, 512, 513; III, 518, 546; VI, 
643. 

Egbert, king of Wessex, 376, 389. 

Egypt, an early center of civilization, 


750 Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


3, 14, 15, 16, 18, 31, 33, 45-50, 68- 
70, 77-78, 80-91, 92; and the Nile, 
45; under Menes, 47; the pyramid 
kings of, 47-49; invaded by the 
Hyksos, 48; becomes an imperial 
power, 48; conquered by Persia, 
48, 129; government in, 67-68; 
economic conditions in, 68-75; 
visited by the Greeks, 125; con¬ 
quered by Alexander the Great, 
165-166; under the Ptolemies, 170; 
becomes a Roman province, 264; 
conquered by the Arabs, 460; a 
center of Moslem power, 467. 

Elder Edda, the, 382. 

Elections, Athenian, 142; Roman, 
233. 

El-eu-sin'i-an mysteries, 113, 322, 335. 

Elizabeth, queen of England, 644-645, 
654, 655, 686, 687, 711, 717. 

Emperor worship, Roman, 270, 321. 

Empire, Egyptian, 43-50; Baby¬ 
lonian, 50-52; Hebrew, 54; Assyr¬ 
ian, 56-59; Persian, 59-61, 162, 
166; Athenian, 142; Spartan, 150- 
151; Macedonian, 156-160, 169- 
170; Carthaginian, 240; early Ro¬ 
man, 268-275; later Roman, 275- 
280; New Persian, 275, 279; Ro¬ 
man, in the West, 278-279, 349- 
352, 352-354, 371; Roman, in the 
East, 278-279, 353-354, 393-394, 
460, 462, 468, 474, 481, 483, 487- 
499; Charlemagne’s, 371; of Otto 
the Great, 371-374; Holy Roman, 
374, 443, 446, 447-448, 630, 659; 
Arabian, 467-468; of Jenghiz 
Khan, 495; Turkish, 496, 499; 
Mogul, 710-711. 

Encyclopedists, the, 699-700. 

England, the name, 348; conquered 
by the Danes, 389-391; Norman 
Conquest of, 389-391; under Wil¬ 
liam the Conqueror, 393, 504-505, 
512; under John, 447, 506-508; 
under Henry II, 505-506, 512; un¬ 
der Richard I, 506; under Henry 
III, 508-509; under Edward I, 
510-512; the Hundred Years’ War 


between France and, 517-521, 553; 
the War of the Roses, 521; under 
Henry VIII, 642-643, 686, 687; 
under Mary Tudor, 644; under Eliza¬ 
beth, 644-645, 653-655, 686, 687; 
under the Stuarts, 687-690, 692- 
694; under Cromwell, 690-691; 
under William III and Anne, 693- 
695; rivalry of, with France, in 
India, 710-714; rivalry of, with 
France, in North America, 720-723; 
loss of the Thirteen Colonies, by, 
723-727. See also Britain. 

“Enlightened Despots,” the, 700-702. 

E-pam-i-non'das, Theban general and 
statesman, 151-152, 156, 157. 

Ephesus (ef'e-sws), 164. 

Eph'ors, the Spartan, 120. 

Epic poetry, Babylonian, 85-86; 
Greek, 109-110, 190; Roman, 309; 
medieval French, 559-560; the 
Nibelungenlied, 561. 

Ep-i-cu-re'an-ism, philosophy of, 196. 

Ep-i-cu'rus, 196. 

Episcopate, the, 330, 641. 

E-ras'mus, Des-i-de'ri-us, 600-601, 
633, 637, 647. 

Er-a-tos'the-nes, 200. 

Eric the Red, 386. 

Ericsson, Leif (er'ik-swn, lif), 386. 

Estates-General, the French, 517, 674. 

Eth'el-bert, king of Kent, 376. 

E-tru'ri-a, 213, 214, 231. 

E-trus'cans, the, 214, 223, 230. 

Eucharist, the, 328, 641. 

Euclid (u'klid), Greek geometrician, 
198, 567. 

Euphrates (u-fra'tez) River, 45, 50. 

Eu-rip'i-des, Athenian dramatist, 191. 

Europe, during the Glacial Period, 5; 
in Palaeolithic times, 6; in Neolithic 
times, 11-12;. physical features of, 
97-100; grand divisions of, 99-100. 

Evans, Sir Arthur, excavations by, 
105-106. 

Excavations: Babylon, 66; Troy, 
Mycenae, Tiryns, and Cnossus, 104- 
106; Pompeii and Herculaneum, 
272, 298-300. 


751 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


Excommunication, 428-429. 

Exploration, Phoenician, 76; Greek, 
199-200; Viking, 384-388; of 
Asia, during the later Middle 
Ages, 610-612; aids to ocean navi¬ 
gation, 612; of the African coast, 
by the Portuguese, 613-615; of 
America, by the Spaniards, 618; 
Magellan’s circumnavigation of the 
globe, 619-620; effects of, on 
Europe, 625-628, 731; French and 
English, in America, 714-717; of 
the Pacific, 730-732. 

Fa'bi-us Max'i-mus, Quin'tus, dic¬ 
tatorship of, 244. 

Fairs in the Middle Ages, 541-542. 

“Fall” of Rome, the, 352-354. 

Family, the, Greek, 111-112, 179, 
182-184; Roman, 220-221, 296, 
301-302; early German, 340. 

Federal Convention, the, 729, 730. 

Federations: Delphic Amphictyony, 
126; Delian League, 138-139, 140, 
144, 146; Peloponnesian League, 
148; Latin League, 215, 217, 231; 
Swiss Confederation, 526; Han¬ 
seatic League, 551-552; the United 
Netherlands, 653. 

Ferdinand, king of Aragon, 523, 524, 
546, 619. 

Festivals, Greek athletic, 116-117; 
Athenian religious, 188-190; Ro¬ 
man, 302; Eleusinian mysteries, 
322; Christian, 331; in the Middle 
Ages, 578-582. 

Feudalism, rise of, 397-399; non- 
European parallels to, 398; reasons 
for decline of, 398, 422; as a form 
of local government, 399-402; as 
a form of local justice, 402-404; 
feudal warfare, 405-407; and the 
Church, 406, 412, 413, 422, 444- 
446; the castle and life of the 
nobles, 407-410; knighthood and 
chivalry, 410-414; as a form of 
local industry, 414-416; the village 
and life of the peasants, 417-418; 
serfdom, 418-421; transplanted to 


Asia, 476; influence of the Crusades 
on, 484; the national states and, 
501-502; William the Conqueror’s 
policy toward, 504; the medieval 
cities and, 532-534; and gunpow¬ 
der, 574; and class distinctions, 
666-667. 

Fief, the, 399. 

Finns, the, 387. 

Flanders, county of, 552-553. 

Fla'vi-an Caesars, the, 271-272. 

Flavius Vespasianus, Roman emperor, 
271-272. 

Flemings, the, 552. 

Florence, in the Middle Ages, 531, 
546, 547-548; during the Renais¬ 
sance, 591, 592, 598. 

Fo'rum, the Roman, 216, 222. 

France, the Gauls in, 258, 514; early 
kingdom of the Franks, 347, 364, 
368; the Normans in, 384, 388-389; 
Capetian dynasty established in, 
389; physical and racial, 514; un¬ 
der Hugh Capet, 514-516; under 
Philip II, 516; under Louis IX, 516- 
517; under Philip IV, 517; Hun¬ 
dred Years’ War between England 
and, 517-521; under Henry IV, 
655-656, 671; under Louis XIV, 
671-677; rivalry of, with England, 
in India, 710-714; rivalry of, with 
England, in North America, 720- 
723; alliance of, with the Thirteen 
Colonies, 726. 

Fran-cis'cans, order of, 437, 438. 

Franklin, Benjamin, 718, 720, 729. 

Franks, the, in northern Gaul, 341, 
346, 347; conquests of, under Clo¬ 
vis, 362-363; converted to Catholic 
Christianity, 363-364, 435; ex¬ 
pansion of, under the earlier Mero¬ 
vingians, 364; under Charles Mar¬ 
tel and Pepin the Short, 364-365, 
441, 463; under Charlemagne, 367— 
371. 

Frederick I, Barbarossa, Holy Roman 
Emperor, 479-480. 

Frederick the Great, king of Prussia, 
683-686, 701-702. 


752 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


Frederick the Wise, elector of Saxony, 
637. 

French and Indian War, 720, 722. 

French Revolution, the, 699, 702, 727. 

Friars, the, 436-438. 

Froissart (frwa-sar'), 605. 

Funeral ceremonies, Roman, 305-306. 

Furniture, Greek, 186; Roman, 299- 
300; medieval, 583. 

Future life, ideas of the, prehistoric, 
10; Egyptian, 66, 77-78, 85; Baby¬ 
lonian and Hebrew, 85; early Greek, 
113, 616; early Roman, 224; as 
set forth in the Eleusinian mysteries, 
322; in Mithraism and other Orien¬ 
tal religions, 323; in Islam, 457- 
458. 

Gaelic (gal'ik), 513. 

Gai'se-ric, Vandal king, 351. 

Ga'len, 199. 

Ga-le'ri-us, Roman emperor, 334. 

Galileo (gal-i-le'o), 602, 603. 

Gallo-Romans, the, 514, 558. 

Games, Olympian, 116-117, 335; Cir- 
censian, 292, 303-305; medieval, 
578-579. 

Gaul (gol), Cisalpine, 211-213, 258; 
Transalpine, 213, 258; Caesar 

governor of, 258; Caesar’s conquest 
of, 258-259; Romanization of, 259; 
Visigoths in, 346; Franks in, 346, 
347, 363; Burgundians in, 347; 
Arabs in, 463. 

Gauls, the, invasion of Italy by, 230- 
231, 232. See also Gaul. 

Geneva, 641. 

Genoa, 286, 362, 546, 547, 548-549, 
591, 615, 626. 

Gen'tiles, the, 326. 

Geographical conditions, influence of, 
on early civilization of Near and 
Far East, 40-41; on the Greeks, 
103; on the Italian peoples, 213- 
214; on the Romans, 216. 

Geography, Babylonian knowledge of, 
89-90; Homeric, 109; Hellenistic, 
199-202; Arab knowledge of, 465; 
medieval, 609-612; progress of, in 


early modern times, 609-620, 730- 
733. 

Geometry, 198. 

George I, king of England, 696; III, 
697, 724, 732. 

Germans, the, an Indo-European 
people, 100; invade Gaul and Italy, 
254; not Romanized, 269; inroads 
of, on Roman frontier, 274, 275, 
279; Dacia abandoned to, 275; 
influence of, on ancient society, 
320; converted to Christianity in 
its Arian form, 335, 337; as de¬ 
scribed by Caesar and Tacitus, 339- 
341; their progress in civilization 
before the invasions, 340-341; rea¬ 
sons for their migrations, 341; tribes 
and confederations of, 341-343; the 
Visigoths in Italy, 343-346; the 
Burgundians in Gaul, 347; the 
Vandals in North Africa, 347; the 
Franks in Gaul, 347, 362-374; the 
Anglo-Saxons in Britain, 347-348, 
374-378; fusion of, with Romans, 
354-355; the Ostrogoths in Italy, 
359-361; the Lombards in Italy, 
361-362; missionary labors of St. 
Boniface among, 436; the Slavs 
and the, 527. 

Germany, the Gauls in, 258; Caesar 
in, 258; physical features of, 339, 
526; part of the Frankish kingdom, 
364, 368; consequences to, of the 
restoration of the Roman Empire 
by Otto the Great, 374; the North¬ 
men in, 384; eastward expansion 
of, in the Middle Ages, 526-529; 
political status of, in the Middle 
Ages, 528-529; medieval cities of, 
529, 550-552; the Reformation in, 
637-640, 651; the Thirty Years’ 
War, 656-660. 

Ghent (gent), 553. 

Gi-bral'tar, Strait of, 76. 

Gilgamesh (gil'ga-mesh), Babylonian 
mythical hero, 86. 

Glacial Period, the, Europe during, 5. 

Gladiatorial combats, 292, 304-305, 
336. 


753 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


Globular theory, the, 615-616. 

“ Glorious Revolution,” the, 692-695. 

Godfrey of Bouillon (boo-yoN 7 ), 476. 

Gods and goddesses, Oriental, 80-81, 
82-84; Greek, 112-113; early Ro¬ 
man, 221-224; Mithras, 323; Scan¬ 
dinavian, 382-384. 

Golden Horde, the, 495. 

“Good Emperors,” the, 272-275. 

Good Hope, Cape of, 76, 614, 709. 

Gothic architecture, 564-566, 582, 598. 

Goths. See Ostrogoths, Visigoths. 

Government, in the Palaeolithic Age, 
10; Oriental, 67-68; early Greek, 
117-119; Spartan, 120; Athenian, 
121-123, 142-144; Roman, 224- 
230, 232-233; Carthaginian, 240; 
of the Early Empire, 268-269; of 
the Later Empire, 276-277; feudal, 
399-402; rise of national states, 
501-502; absolutism and divine 
right, 665-666. 

Gracchi (grak'i), the, 252-254, 264. 

Gracchus, Tiberius, 252-253; Gaius, 
253. 

Graeco-Oriental world, the, 176, 292- 
293. 

Gra-na'da, 464, 523-524. 

Gra-ni'cus River, battle of the, 164. 

Great Britain. See British Isles, Eng¬ 
land. 

Great Charter. See Magna Carta. 

Great Council, the, in Norman Eng¬ 
land, 508-509. 

“Great Schism,” the, 632, 633. 

“Great South Land,” the, 202, 731. 

Greece, physical features of, 102-103. 

Greek Church, the, 483, 490-491. 

“Greek Empire,” the, 487. 

“Greek fire,” 462. 

Greeks, the, early records of, 33; 
influence of geographical conditions 
on, 103; their prehistoric conquests 
and settlements, 108-109; religion 
and religious institutions of, 112- 
117, 126; the Greek city-state, 
117-119, 120-123; colonial expan¬ 
sion of, 123-125, 213, 214-215; 
bonds of union between, 125-126; 


the Persian wars, 129-138; after 
the Persian wars, 138-153; be¬ 
come subject to Macedonia, 158- 
160; become subject to Rome, 247; 
influence of, on Rome, 251, 297- 
298; extended Roman citizenship, 
283; conquered by the Ottoman 
Turks, 496. 

Greenland, colonized by the North¬ 
men, 386. 

Gregory I, the Great, pope, 376, 440; 
VII, 445-446. 

Grotius (gro'shi-ws), Hugo, 660. 

Guilds, Oriental, 71, 537; Roman, 
288-289, 537, 669-670; medieval, 
537-540. 

Guiscard (ges-kar'), Robert, 393-394; 
Roger, 394. 

Gunpowder, discovery and impor¬ 
tance of, 573-574. 

Gustavus Adolphus, 658, 660. 

Gutenberg (goo'ten-berK), 597. 

Gymnastics, Greek, 180; Roman, 
301-302. 

Habeas Corpus Act, the, 692-693. 

Hades (ha/dez), Greek underworld 
of the dead, 113. 

Ha'dri-an, Roman emperor, 272, 273- 
274, 282-283, 311; tomb of, 274; 
wall of, in Britain, 283. 

Hamburg (Ger. pron. ham'boorK), 
551, 552, 626. 

Hammurabi (ham-oo-ra'be), king of 
Babylonia, 51-52; his code of laws, 
78-79. 

Han'ni-bal, 242-245. 

Hanno, exploring voyage of, 76, 200. 

Hanoverian dynasty, the, 696. 

Han-se-at'ic League, the, 551-552. 

Hapsburg (Ger. pron. haps'bborK) 
dynasty, the, 448, 524, 652, 658, 
659, 677, 681-682. 

Harold, king of England, 391-392. 

Har'pa-lus, 175. 

Harun-al-Rashid (ha-roon'-ar-ra- 
shed'), 467. 

Harvey, 602-603. 

Has'dru-bal, brother of Hannibal, 244. 


754 Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


Hastings, battle of, 392, 560. 

Hebrews, the, settlement of, in Ca¬ 
naan, 53-54; under Saul, David, 
and Solomon, 54; secession of the 
Ten Tribes, 54-56; kingdoms of 
Israel and Judah, 56-57, 59. See 
also Jews. 

Hegira (he-jl'rd), the, 456. 

Hel'las, defined, 125. 

Hel-le'nes, 125. See also Greeks. 

Hel-le-nis'tic Age, the, 173-175, 197. 

Hellenization of the East, 169-170, 
176; of Rome, 251, 297-298. 

Henry II, king of England, 505-506; 

III, 508-509; V, 519-520; VII, 
521, 686, 687, 717; VIII, 642-643, 
644, 686, 687. 

Henry IV, king of France, 655—656, 
671, 714. 

Henry III, king of Germany, 444; 

IV, 445-446. 

Henry, Prince, the Navigator, 613. 

Her-cu-la'ne-um, destruction of, 272. 

Heresies, rise of, 335, 634-636; pun¬ 
ishment of, in the Middle Ages, 
634; the Albigenses, 634-635; the 
Waldenses, 635; the Lollards, 636. 

Hermits, early Christian, 430, 436. 

Her'od, king of Judaea, 324. 

He-rod'o-tus, Greek traveler and his¬ 
torian, 131, 133, 192. 

Hez-e-ki'ah, Hebrew king, 57. 

Hi'er-o-glyphs, Egyptian, 30, 64-65, 
90. 

Hil'de-brand. See Gregory VII. 

Hippocrates, 199. 

Historians, Greek, 192; Roman, 307, 
309-310. 

History, and written records, 32-33; 
beginnings of, in different parts of 
the world, 33; subdivisions of, 33. 

Hohenzollern (ho'en-tsol-ern) dynasty, 
the, 683. 

Holidays, Roman, 305; in the Middle 
Ages, 418, 579-580; in America, 
718. 

Holland, 364, 368, 653-654, 707-710. 

Holy Land, the, 471-472, 474, 477, 
478, 483. 


Holy Roman Empire. See Empire. 

Homage, ceremony of, 401. 

Homer, 110, 181, 190, 592. 

Homeric Age, the, 109-112. 

Homeric poems, 103, 109-110, 125- 
126, 161, 181-182, 594-595. 

Hon-o'ri-us, Roman emperor in the 
West, 344, 345. 

Horace, Roman poet, 297, 309, 595. 

Hos'pi-tal-ers, order of the, 477, 482. 

Hudson, Henry, 709. 

Huguenots (hu'ge-nots), the, 655-656, 
709. 

Humanism, 595, 596, 600, 601-602. 

Hundred Years’ War, the, 517-521, 
553. 

Hungarians. See Magyars. 

Huns, enter Europe and subdue the 
Ostrogoths, 343; inroads of, under 
Attila, 348-349; break-up of power, 
349. 

Huss (hus), John, 636, 637, 638. 

Hyksos (hik'sos), the, 48. 

Hymns, Latin, 559. 

Iberians, the, 522. 

Iceland, 380', 381, 382, 384, 386. 

Iliad , the. See Homeric poems. 

Incas, the, 622-623, 624. 

“Index of Prohibited Books,” the, 
649-650. 

India, early civilization in, 16, 18, 
33, 42-43; settlement of, by Indo- 
Europeans, 42; relations of, to the 
West, 43; Persian conquest of 
the Punjab, 43, 168; Alexander the 
Great in, 168; rediscovery of sea 
route to, 175; the Moguls in, 496; 
Portuguese possessions in, 623; ri¬ 
valry of the French and English in, 
710-714. 

Indians, American, 4, 16, 29, 87, 620- 
623, 624-625. 

Indo-China, 16, 40. 

Indulgences, Luther’s criticisms of, 
637-638. 

Industry, in the Oriental world, 71; 
in the Homeric Age, 110-111; in 
ancient Athens, 144;- in imperial 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


Rome, 288—290; feudalism as a form 
of, 414-416; Arab, 464; Byzantine, 
488; in medieval cities, - 537-540; 
in early modern times, 668-669. 

Infanticide, in the ancient world, 120, 
291, 336, 353. 

Innocent III, pope, 446-447, 480, 482. 

Inquisition, the, 650, 652. 

Institutes of the Christian Religion , 
Calvin’s, 640. 

Instrument of Government, the, 690- 
691. 

Interdict, the, 429. 

Investiture, conflict over, 444-446. 

I-o'ni-a, settled by the Greeks, 103; 
Homeric poems probably composed 
in, 110; conquered by Persia, 129; 
the Ionian Revolt, 131; joins the 
Delian League, 138; freed by 
Alexander the Great, 164. 

Ionic order of architecture, 203, 204. 

Iran (e-ran'), 168. 

Ireland, not conquered by Rome, 271; 
the Scots of, 347; Christianity in¬ 
troduced into, 435-436; conquered 
by England, 513-514. 

Ir-ne'ri-us, 568. 

Iron, 15-16, 110, 621. 

Isabella of Castile, 523, 524, 618, 619. 

Islam (is'ldm), principles and practices 
of, 457-459; expansion of, 459- 
463. 

Israel, kingdom of, 56. 

Is'ra-el-ites. See Hebrews. 

Issus, battle of, 164, 165. 

Italians, the, influence of geographical 
conditions on, 213-214; principal 
divisions of, 214-215; Roman citi¬ 
zenship conferred on, 232, 254. 

Italy, physical features of, 211-213; 
Etruscan and Greek settlements in, 
214-215; Roman conquest of cen¬ 
tral and southern, 231-232; under 
Roman rule, 232-234; Attila in, 
349; the Ostrogoths in, 359-361; 
the Lombards in, 361-362; Frank¬ 
ish rule over, 365-368; restoration 
of the Roman Empire by Otto the 
Great and its consequences to, 374; 


755 

Norman conquest of southern, 393- 
395; medieval cities of, 547-550; 
in the Renaissance, 591-596, 598- 
600. 

Jacquerie (zhak-re'), the, 421. 

James I, king of England, 687-688; 
II, 693, 694. 

Jan-i-za'ries, the, 497-498. 

Janus, 221, 222. 

Japan, 40, 398, 649. 

Je-ho'vah, 54, 57, 83-85. 

Jenghiz Khan (jen'giz Kan'), Mongol 
conqueror, 495. 

Jerusalem, becomes capital of the 
Hebrew state, 54; besieged by 
Sennacherib, 57; captured by Neb¬ 
uchadnezzar, 58; captured and 
destroyed by the Romans, 272; 
early Christians in, 326; taken by 
the Arabs, 460; during the Cru¬ 
sades, 476, 479, 480; Latin king¬ 
dom of, 476, 477, 478, 479, 482. 

Jesuits, the, 647-649. 

Jesus, 84, 324, 328, 429, 457. 

Jews, the, in Alexandria, 174; revolts 
of, against Rome, 272; extended 
Roman citizenship, 283; rise of 
Christianity among, 324, 326; and 
the Roman Church, 424; condition 
of, in the Middle Ages, 546; in the 
Thirteen Colonies, 718. 

Joan of Arc, 520-521. 

John, king of England, 447, 506-507, 
516. 

John, king of France, 518. 

Joseph II, 702. 

Joust, the, 413. 

Ju-dae'a, 324. 

Judah, kingdom of, 56, 58. 

Julian Caesars, the, 270-271. 

Ju'pi-ter, supreme deity of Rome, 222. 

Jury, trial and accusation by, 505- 
506. 

“Just price,” medieval idea of the, 
540-541. 

Jus-tin'i-an, Roman emperor in the 
East, 361; code of, 404, 489-490. 

Jutes, the, 341-342, 347-348. 


756 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


Kaaba (ka'd-bd), the, 453, 454. 

Karakorum, 495. 

Karnak, 49. 

Kepler, 602, 603. 

Khartum (kar-tdom'), 45. 

Kiev (ke'yef), 387. 

Knighthood and chivalry, 410-414. 

Knights of St. John. See Hospi¬ 
talers. 

Koran (ko-ran'), the, 457-459. 

Kublai Khan (kbo'bll Kan'), 610. 

Lake dwellings, Swiss, 12. 

Lan'cas-ter, House of, 521. 

Lancelot, 412. 

Land, feudal tenure of, 399-402, 414- 
416, 418-419. 

Language, Latin, 27, 31, 285-286, 
557, 595; and race, 27; Hamitic, 
27; Semitic, 27, 240; Arabic, 27; 
Indo-European, 28; Chinese, 29, 
30; Egyptian, 29, 30, 31; Baby¬ 
lonian, 30; Japanese, 31; Phoeni¬ 
cian, 31, 32; Hebrew, 31; Italian, 
215, 285, 594; Rumanian, 285; 
Portuguese, 285; Spanish, 285; 
French, 285, 558; English, 285, 
559, 717; Arabic, 466; Cymric, 512; 
Gaelic, 513; Icelandic, 558; Ger¬ 
man, 558; Dutch, 558; Flemish, 
558; Danish, 558; Norwegian, 558; 
Swedish, 558; Anglo-Saxon, 558. 
See also Romance languages, Teu¬ 
tonic languages. 

Lapps, the, 494. 

La Salle (Id sdl'), Robert de, 716. 

Latin League, the, 215, 217, 231. 

Latium (la'shi-wm), a district of cen¬ 
tral Italy, 213, 215; expansion of 
Roman dominion over, 217, 231. 

Law, code of Hammurabi, 78-79; 
Mosaic code, 79-80; Draconian 
code, 121-122; reforms of Solon 
and Clisthenes, 122-123; Twelve 
Tables, 226, 284; Roman, improve¬ 
ment and character of, 284; of 
Charlemagne, 368; Common Law of 
England, 377, 490, 505-506, 718- 
719; feudal, 404; canon, 427; the 


Corpus Juris Civilis, 489-490, 568; 
rise of international law, 660. 

Legion, the Roman, 234-235, 281. 

Leo I, the Great, pope, 440. 

Leon (la-on'), kingdom of, 522. 

Leonardo da Vinci (la-6-nar'do da 
ven'che), 599. 

Le-on'i-das, Spartan king, 135. 

Lep'i-dus, 262, 263. 

Leuc'tra, battle of, 151. 

Libraries, in the ancient Orient, 91; 
the Alexandrian Library, 173-174, 
197; Arab, 466; Byzantine, 489; 
the Vatican Library, 596. 

Li-cin'i-us, Roman emperor, 278. 

Lisbon, 623, 626. 

Literature, Oriental, 85-86; Greek, 
125, 190-193, 592; Roman, 307- 
310; medieval, 559-562, 607; Ren¬ 
aissance, 604-607. 

Liv'y, Roman historian, 309-310. 

Locke, John, 697. 

Lollards, the, 636. 

Lombards, the, in Italy, 361-362, 440; 
conquered by the Franks, 362, 365, 
367; become Catholic Christians, 
362. 

London, 392, 531, 535, 539, 551, 626. 

Long Walls of Athens, the, 144-146, 
149, 150. 

Lorraine (lo-ran'), 659, 676. 

Lothair (lo-thar'), 371-372. 

Louis the German, 371. 

Louis IX, king of France, 516-517; 
XIV, 671-677, 711, 715, 716; XV, 
676, 716. 

Louisiana, 672, 716, 722. 

Loyola (lo-yo'la), St. Ignatius, 647- 
648. 

Liibeck (lii'bSk), 551, 552, 626. 

Lu-cre'ti-us, 307-308. 

Luther, Martin, 637-639. 

Lutheranism, its doctrines, 638; legal 
recognition of, in Germany, 639- 
640, 651; spreads to Scandinavia, 
640. 

Luxor, (lux'sor), 49. 

Ly-ce'um, the, at Athens, 187, 195, 
197. 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


Ly-cur'gus, 121. 

Lyd'i-a, conquered by Persia, 59; 
coinage in, 72. 

Lyric poetry, Greek, 190-191; Roman, 
308-309; medieval, 559. 

Mac-e-do'ni-a, conquered by Persia, 
132; rise of, 153; under Philip II 
and Alexander the Great, 156-162; 
after Alexander’s death, 170-171; 
conquered by Rome, 247. 

Machiavelli (ma-kya-vel'le), 604. 

Madeira (md-de'ra) Islands, 613. 

Ma-gel'lan, 619-620, 731. 

Magic, Babylonian, 81; in the Mid¬ 
dle Ages, 81, 577-578; Roman, 292. 

Magistrates: Spartan ephors, 120; 
Athenian Ten Generals, 143; Ro¬ 
man, 225, 227, 229; of a medieval 
city, 537. 

Mag'na Car'ta, winning of, 506-507; 
provisions of, 507-508. 

Mag'na Grae'ci-a, the name, 124, 213. 

Magyars (mod'yors), the, 373. 

Malory, Sir Thomas, 561. 

Manor, the medieval, 414-416. 

Man-ti-ne'a, battle of, 152. 

Manutius, Aldus (ma-nu'shi-ws, 
al'dws), 597. 

Maps, early, 109, 200, 201, 611, 617, 
626, 731. 

Mar'a-thon, battle of, 132-133. 

Mar-do'ni-us, 132, 136-137. 

Marduk (mar'dook), Babylonian 
deity, 85-86. 

Maria Theresa (te-re'sd), 681-682, 
684-685. 

Marianas Islands, 619. 

Ma'ri-us, 254, 255, 264-265. 

Marlborough, 676. 

Marriage, among the Egyptians, 77; 
among the Greeks, 121, 182-184; 
among the Romans, 220-221, 291- 
292; made a religious contract, 337; 
and the Church, 427. 

Mars, Roman war god, 222. 

Marseilles (mar-salz'). See Massilia. 

Martyrs, Christian, 334. 

Mary (wife of William III), 693-694. 


757 

Mary Tudor, queen of England, 644. 

Mas-sil'i-a, 124-125, 531. 

Mathematics, Egyptian, 89; Baby¬ 
lonian, 89; Greek, 197, 198; 

Arab, 465; Mayan, 622. 

Matilda, Countess, 446. 

Max-im'i-an, Roman emperor, 277. 

Mayas (ma'yas), the, 621-622. 

“ Mayors of the palace,” Frankish, 
364. 

Mecca, 453, 454, 458, 459. 

Me'di-a, rise of, 58; union of, with 
Persia, 59. 

Medici (med'e-che), the, 596. 

Medicine, Oriental, 90; Greek, 199; 
Roman, 306; Arab, 465; instruc¬ 
tion in, 569, 571. 

Medina (ma-de'na), 456, 467. 

Mediterranean basin, the, 100-102. 

Memphis (mem'fis), 48, 165. 

Menes (me'nez), 47. 

Mercantile system, the, 705-706. 

Merchant guild, the, 537. 

Mer-o-vin'gi-an dynasty, the, 364. 

Mer'sen, Treaty of, 372. 

Mes-si'ah, 326. 

Metallurgy, 15, 46. 

Mexico, 16, 18, 545, 621-622, 624. 

Michelangelo (Ital. pron. me-kel- 
an'ja-lo), 599. 

Middle Ages, the, general survey of, 
358; nations during, 501-529; 
cities during, 531-554; life and 
thought during, 557-585; close of, 
590. 

Middle class, rise of, 534-535. 

Migrations, human, 25-27. 

Milan (mil'an), city, 286, 531, 547, 
591; Edict of, 334. 

Military-religious orders, 477. 

Mil-ti'a-des, 132-133. 

Mis'si do-min'i-ci , the, 368-369. 

Mississippi River, 716. 

Mithras, worship of, in the Roman 
world, 323. 

Mo-guls', rule of the, in India, 710- 
711. 

Mo-ham'med, prophet, 454, 455-457, 
464. 


758 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


Mohammed II, sultan, 498. 

Mohammedanism. See Islam. 

Mohammedans. See Moslems. 

Moluccas. See Spice Islands. 

Monarchy, Oriental, 67-68; in early 
Greece, 119; in early Rome, 217, 
219; Caesar as Imperator, 259-260; 
at the time of Augustus, 265, 268- 
269; absolute, of Diocletian and 
his successors, 277; decline of, dur¬ 
ing feudalism, 397-398; rise of ab¬ 
solute, in Europe 521, 524, 665- 
666, 671; limited, 695. 

Monasticism, rise of, 429-430; Rule 
of St. Basil, 430-431, 432; Rule of 
St. Benedict, 432-433, 436; life 
and work of Benedictine monks, 
433-435, 592; the friars, 436-438; 
suppression of, in Scandinavia and 
England, 640, 643. 

Money, development of metallic, 72; 
Roman, 220, 288; scarcity of, in 
the Middle Ages, 544-546; the Jews 
as money lenders, 546; increased 
supply of, after the discovery of 
America, 626-627. See also Coin¬ 
age. 

Mongoloid race, 22, 492-496. 

Mongols, the, 494-496. 

Monotheism, Egyptian, 82-83; Per¬ 
sian, 83; Hebrew, 83-85, 327-328; 
Arabian, 454. 

Monsoons, 175. 

Montaigne (mon-tan'), 605. 

Montcalm, 721. 

Mon'te Cas-si'no, 432. 

Montesquieu (moN-tes-ke-u'), 698, 
699. 

Montfort, Simon de, 509, 510. 

Montreal, 715, 721. 

Moors, the, 522, 523-524. 

Morte d’Arthur (mort'-dar-tiir'), the, 
561. 

Mosaics, 315, 465. 

Moses, 54, 79, 457. 

Mos'lems, the, defeated by Charles 
Martel at Tours, 365, 372; in south¬ 
ern France and Italy, 365, 463; 
Charlemagne’s- wars with, 368; 


meaning of the name “Moslem,” 
456; in Spain, 463, 523-524; during 
the Crusades, 478, 479, 483, 485. 

Mumming, 581. 

Museum, Alexandrian, 173, 197. 

Music, Greek, 180. 

Myc'a-le, naval battle of, 137. 

Mycenae (mi-se'ne), Schliemann’s ex¬ 
cavations at, 104. 

Mysteries, Eleusinian, 113, 322, 335; 
Mithraic, 323. 

Mythology, Greek, 112-113; Roman, 
217-219, 221-223; Scandinavian, 
382-384. 

Names, Roman, 221; origin of com¬ 
mon family, 538. 

Nantes (Fr. pron. naNt), Edict of, 
656. 

Naples, 124, 362. 

Nationalism, 501, 502. 

Nau'cra-tis, 125. 

Navarre (nd-var'), kingdom of, 522. 

Navigation Acts, the, 723-724. 

Navy. See Sea-power. 

Ne-ar'chus, voyage of, 175. 

Neb-u-chad-nez'zar, king of Baby¬ 
lonia, 58-59, 67. 

Negroid race, 22. 

Ne-o-lith'ic Age. See New Stone Age. 

Nero, Roman emperor, 271. 

Nerva, Roman emperor, 272. 

Netherlands, the, the Gauls in, 258; 
condition of, in the Middle Ages, 
525, 552-553; Protestantism in, 
652; revolt of, 652-653, 659; Bel¬ 
gian or Spanish, 677. See also Hol¬ 
land. 

New Stone Age, the, 11-14. 

New Testament, 601. 

Newton, 602. 

Nibelungenlied (ne'be-loong-en-let), 
the, 561, 607. 

Nicsea (nJ-se'd), Council of, 335. 

Nile River, 45. 

Nineveh (mn'e-ve), 58, 91. 

Nobility, Oriental, 68; early Greek, 
119; Athenian, 121; Roman, 225, 
301; feudal, 398, 399, 402, 410-414; 


759 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


during the seventeenth and eight¬ 
eenth centuries, 667-668. 

Normandy, 388-389, 392. 

Normans, the, settle in France, 388- 
389; conquer England, 391-393; 
results of the Norman Conquest, 
393; in southern Italy and Sicily, 
393-395, 473; influence of, on 
European history, 394-395; as 
crusaders, 473. 

Northmen, in France and Germany, 
372-373; their home, 380; the 
Viking Age, 380-382; mythology 
of, 382-384; Christianization of, 
384; discoveries and settlements of, 
384-388. 

Northwest Passage, search for the, 
717. 

Norway, 386. 

Novgorod (nov'go-rot), 387, 551. 

Numerals, the “Arabic,” 465, 572; 
the Roman, 465, 567. 

Oc-ta'vi-an, 262-264, 265, 268. See 
also Augustus. 

O'din, 382, 384. 

O-do-a'cer, 351-352, 359-360. 

Odysseus (o-dis'us), 110, 111. 

Odyssey , the. See Homeric poems. 

O'laf the Saint, 384. 

Old Regime, the, 665-702. 

Old Stone Age, the, 6-11. 

Old Testament, 86, 174, 457. 

Olympiad, 117. 

Olympian council, the, 112. 

Olympian games, 116-117, 335. 

Omar, second caliph, 467. 

Ommiads (o-mi'adz), dynasty of ‘the, 
467. 

Oracles: of Zeus at Dodona, 113; 
of Apollo at Delphi, 113-115. 

Oratory, Greek, 159, 193; Roman, 
256, 307. 

Ordeals, 403-404. 

O-res'tes, 351. 

Orleans (or-la-aN'), 516, 520. 

Ostracism, 122-123. 

Os'tro-goths, the, early location of, 
341; subdued by the Huns, 343; 


cross the Danube, 344; in Italy, 
359-361; under Theodoric, 359- 
361; conquered by Justinian, 361; 
become Catholic Christians, 435. 

Othman, third caliph, 467; Ottoman 
chieftain, 496. 

Ot'to I, the Great, 371-374, 443, 487. 

Ot'to-man Turks, the, conquests of, 
496-499; their control of Asiatic 
trade routes, 549, 615. 

Oxford, University of, 568, 570. 

Pacific Ocean, the, discovery and ex¬ 
ploration of, 619, 730-731. 

Paganism, decline of, 321, 333, 334, 
335. 

Painting, prehistoric, 9; Oriental, 88- 
89; iEgean, 105-106, 107; Greek, 
207; Roman, 315; Byzantine, 489; 
in the Middle Ages, 489, 565; 
Renaissance, 599-600, 601. 

Pa-lae-o-lith'ic Age. See Old Stone 
Age. 

Palestine, 48, 53-56, 255, 272, 324. 

Panathenasa, the Great, 188. 

Panhellenic union, organized by 
Philip, 160. 

Pan'the-on ; the, 311, 312. 

Papacy. See Roman Church. 

Paper, 464, 596-598. 

Papyrus, use of, as writing material, 
32, 91, 251, 596. 

Paris, in Roman imperial times, 348; 
sacked by the Northmen, 388; be¬ 
comes capital of France, 516; dur¬ 
ing the Middle Ages, 531, 539; Uni¬ 
versity of, 568, 569, 570. 

Paris, Peace of (1763), 714, 722; 
(1783), 722, 726, 727, 728. 

Parliament, English, in the thirteenth 
century, 508-510; under the Tu¬ 
dors, 686-687; under the Stuarts, 
687, 688-689, 693; under William 
III, 694-695; and the Thirteen 
Colonies, 724, 725. 

Par'the-non, the, 146, 204, 206. 

Parthians, the, 269, 274. 

Parties, political, rise of, in England, 
693, 696. 


760 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


“Partnership Emperors,” the, 276- 
277. 

Patricians (pa-trish'ans), Roman, 225- 
226. 

Paul III, pope, 647, 649. 

“Peace of God,” the, 406, 448. 

Peasants, Oriental, 69; condition of, 
in early Attica, 122; under Pericles, 
144; disappearance of Roman, 250- 
251; in the Middle Ages, 417-418; 
under the Old Regime, 670. 

Peasants’ Rebellion, the, 420-421. 

Peking (pe-king'), 610. 

Pe-lop'i-das, 150-151. 

Pel-o-pon-ne'sian League, 148. 

Pel-o-pon-ne'sian War, the, 148-150. 

Pepin (pep'm) the Short, king of the 
Franks, 365, 463. 

Per'ga-mum, 172, 286. 

Per'i-cles, 140-142, 143, 144, 147, 149, 
159, 206. 

Per-sep'o-lis, 61, 166. 

Persia, under Cyrus the Great, Cam- 
byses, and Darius I, 59; extent and 
organization of the Persian Empire, 
59-61; advance of, to the Medi¬ 
terranean, 129-134; the Persian 
wars, 134-138; expedition of Cyrus 
the Younger and retreat of the 
“Ten Thousand,” 162-164; con¬ 
quered by Alexander the Great, 
164; rise of the New Persian Em¬ 
pire, 275; conquered by the Arabs, 
460; overrun by the Mongols, 495. 

Peru, 16, 18, 545, 622-623, 624. 

Peter the Great, 677-681, 732. 

Peter the Hermit, 475, 476. 

“Peter’s Pence,” 443. 

Petition of Right, the, 688-689. 

Petrarch (pe'trark), 594. 

“Petrine theory,” the, 441. 

Phalanx, the Macedonian, 51,157-158. 

Pharaohs (fa'rSs), the, 47. 

Pharos, 171, 172, 174. 

Phid'i-as, Athenian sculptor, 146, 204, 
206. 

Philip II, Augustus, king of France, 
409, 447, 479, 480, 516; IV, the 
Fair, 517, 631; VI, 518. 


Philip II, king of Macedonia, 153, 
156-158, 159-160, 161. 

Philip II, king of Spain, 644, 652- 
653, 654, 655. 

Phi-lip'pi, founded by Philip II, 158; 
battles of, 263. 

Philippics , Demosthenes’s, 159. 

Philippine Islands, 619. 

Philistines (fi-lis'tins), 54. 

“Philosophers,” the reforming, 696- 
700. 

Philosophy, Greek, 193-197; Arabic 
interest in, 466; scholastic, 570- 
571. 

Phoenicia (fe-msh'i-d), conquered by 
Egypt, 48; the country and people, 
52-53, 92; commerce of, 75-76; 
Phoenician imports and exports, 
75-76; Phoenician exploring voy¬ 
ages and settlements, 76-77. 

Piets, the, 347. 

Pilate, 324. 

Pilgrimages, Mohammedan, to Mecca, 
458-459; Christian, to the Holy 
Land, 471-472. 

Pindar, Greek poet, 191. 

Piracy, in antiquity, 111, 288; in the 
Middle Ages, 542, 551. 

Pi-rse'us, 138, 144, 150. 

Pisa (pe'sa), 547, 591. 

Plagues, 149, 420. 

Plan-tag'e-net dynasty, the, 505. 

Plants, domestication of, 14. 

Plassey, battle of, 714. 

Pla-tae'a, battle of, 137. 

Pla'to, Athenian philosopher, 195, 
196, 197, 595, 616. 

Plebeians (ple-be'yans), Roman, 225- 
226. 

Plutarch (ploo'tark), Greek biogra¬ 
pher, 161, 192. 

Pnyx (niks), hill, 143. 

Poetry, Greek epic, 109-110, 190; 
Greek lyric, 190-191; Greek dra¬ 
matic, 191-192; Roman, 307-309; 
medieval, 559-560; Renaissance, 
592. 

Poitiers (pwa-tya'), battle of, 518. 

Polo, game of, 578-579. 


761 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


Polo, Marco, 610-612, 731. 

Pom-e-ra'ni-a, 683. 

Pompeii (pom-pa'ye), destruction of, 
272; excavations at, 272, 286, 287, 
298-300. 

Pom-pe'ius, Gnae'us. See Pompey. 

Pompey (pom'pi), 255, 258, 259, 265. 

Pondicherry, 711, 712. 

Poor Richard's Almanac , 718. 

Portugal, physical features of, 521; 
rise of, 522-523; and the Demarca¬ 
tion Line, 619; becomes a colonial 
power, 623-624. 

Poseidon (po-si'don), 112, 223. 

Potosl (po-to-se'), mines of, 626, 627. 

Praetors, Roman, 227. 

Pragmatic Sanction, the, 682. 

Praise of Folly , Erasmus’s, 633. 

Prax-it'e-les, 206-207. 

Prefectures of the Roman Empire, 
277. 

Presbyterian Church, the, 641. 

Presbyters, 328. 

Prester John, legend of, 610. 

Priesthood, Oriental, 68; Roman, 223- 
224; Christian, 328, 330, 426. 

Primogeniture, 399. 

Printing, invention of, 32, 596-598, 
601. 

Prophets, the Hebrew, 84. 

Protectorate, the, England under, 
690-691. 

Protestants, origin of the name, 640; 
sects of, 645-647. 

Provincial system, Roman, 248-249, 
280-284; reformed by Julius Caesar, 
260-261; by Augustus, 270; re¬ 
modeling of, by Diocletian, 277. 

Prussia, rise of, 527, 659; under 
Frederick the Great, 683-686, 701, 
702. 

Prussians, the, conquest and conver¬ 
sion of, 527. 

Ptolemaic system, the, 199, 602. 

Ptolemies (t61'e-miz), kingdom of the, 
170, 264. 

Ptolemy, one of Alexander’s generals, 
170; Greek scientist, 199, 200-202, 
731. 


Pub'li-cans, Roman, 249. 

Pu'nic War, First, 241-242; Second, 
242-245, 247; Third, 245-246. 

Punjab (pun-jab'), the, 42, 168. 

Puritan Revolution, the, 686-692. 

Puritans, the, 642, 687-688, 689. 

Pyramids, the, 46, 66. 

Pyrrhus (pir'ws), 231-232, 249. 

Pyth'e-as, exploring voyage of, 200. 

Quaestors (kwes'tors), Roman, 227. 

Quebec, 715, 721, 722. 

Queen Anne’s War, 720, 722. 

Quir'i-nal Hill, 216. 

Races of man, 21-22. 

Raleigh (ro'li), Sir Walter, 654, 655, 
717. 

Rameses (ram'e-sez) I, king of Egypt, 
47; II, 47, 48, 50, 67. 

Raphael (raf'a-el), 599-600. 

Ra-ven'na, 286, 345, 349, 351, 360, 
362. 

Rawlinson, Sir Henry, 65. 

Reformation, the, general nature of, 
590; preparation for, 630-636; in 
Germany, 637-640; in Scandinavia, 
640; in Switzerland, 640-642; in 
the British Isles, 642-645; the 
Protestant sects, 645-647; the 
Catholic Counter, 647-650; the re¬ 
ligious wars, 650-656; in the Neth¬ 
erlands, 652; in France, 655-656; 
the Thirty Years’ War, 656-660. 

“Reliefs,” the feudal, 401. 

Religion, Palaeolithic, 10; Oriental, 41, 
42-43, 80-85; early Greek, 112- 
113, 126; Greek religious institu¬ 
tions, 113-117; early Roman, 221- 
224; reforming activities of Augus¬ 
tus, 270; worship of the Caesars, 
270; decline of classical paganism, 
321; Eleusinian mysteries, 322; 
Oriental religions in the Roman 
Empire, 322-323; Christianity in 
the Roman Empire, 324-335; Scan¬ 
dinavian heathenism, 382-384; the 
Roman Church and the Papacy, 
424-449; Arabian heathenism, 454; 


762 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


Islam, 457-460; the Reformation, 
630-650; the religious wars, 650- 
656; in America, 718. 

Renaissance (ren-e-saNs'), the, mean¬ 
ing of the term, 591; origin of, in 
Italy, 591-596; as an artistic re¬ 
vival in Italy, 598-600; beyond 
Italy, 600-601; in science, 601-603; 
in literature, 604-607; interest of 
the popes in, 632. 

Representation, principle of, not found 
in the classical city-state, 144, 232- 
233; in England, 509-510, 689; in 
France, 517; in the Thirteen Col¬ 
onies, 719. 

Reynard the Fox, 561, 607. 

Rhine River, 258, 269, 346. 

Rhodes, 172, 286, 298, 482. 

Richard I, king of England, 409, 479, 
480, 506; II, 421. 

Richelieu (re-she-lyu'), Cardinal, 658. 

Roads, Persian, 60-61; Roman, under 
the republic, 233-234; under the 
empire, 281-282. 

Robin Hood, ballads of, 562. 

Rollo, 388. 

Roman Church, the, relations of, with 
Clovis, Pepin the Short, Charle¬ 
magne, and Otto the Great, 363-364, 
365, 369-371, 373, 443; and feudal¬ 
ism, 406, 412, 413, 422,444-446; na¬ 
ture and territorial extent of, in the 
Middle Ages, 424-425; organization 
of, 425-427; jurisdiction of, 427-429; 
monasticism, 429-435; missions of, 
in western Europe, 435-436; the 
friars, 436-438; rise of the Papacy, 
"439-441; power of the medieval 
Papacy, 441-443; contest between 
the Papacy and the Empire, 443- 
448; influence of, on medieval so¬ 
ciety, 448-449; and the Crusades, 
473, 483; and the Renaissance, 596; 
decline of, in the fourteenth and 
fifteenth centuries, 630-633; here¬ 
sies and heretics, 634-636; the 
Protestant Reformation, 637-647; 
the Counter Reformation, 647-650; 
the religious wars, 650-660. 


Romance (ro-mans') languages, 285, 
557-558, 559. 

Romances, the Arthurian, 560-561. 

Romanesque architecture, 562-564. 

Romanization, of Italy, 233; of Sicily 
and Spain, 246-247; of Gaul, 269; 
the Germans not Romanized, 269; 
of Britain, 271; of Dacia, 273; of 
the Visigoths, 346; of the Ostro¬ 
goths, 360-361; of the Lombards, 
362; of the Franks, 363. 

Romanov (ro-ma'nof) dynasty, the, 
678-679. 

Romans, the, their legends, 216, 217- 
219; their early society, 219-221; 
the Roman family, 220-221; the 
Roman religion, 221-224; the 
Roman city-state, 224-226; po¬ 
litical life of, during the republic, 
226-230; their colonies and roads 
in Italy, 233-234; their military 
system, 234-236; provincial govern¬ 
ment under the republic, 248-249; 
effects of foreign conquests on, 248- 
251; at the end of the republican pe¬ 
riod, 264; during the Augustan Age, 
269-270; under Diocletian, 277; 
extension of Roman citizenship, 
282-284; laws of, 284; language of, 
284-285; economic and social con¬ 
ditions during imperial times, 
288-292; the Graeco-Oriental-Ro¬ 
man world, 292-293; education of, 
296-298; their homes, 298-300; 
daily life of, 301-302; amusements 
of, 302-305; funeral ceremonies, 
305-306; literature of, 307-310; 
architecture, sculpture, and paint¬ 
ing of, 310-316; genius of, 316; 
Christian influence on, 336-337; 
Germanic influence on, 354-355; fu¬ 
sion of, with the Germans, 354-355. 

Rome, earliest records of, 33; a mem¬ 
ber of Latin League, 215, 217; 
founding of, 216; under the kings, 
216-219; legends of early, 217-219; 
becomes a republic, 219; contest 
between plebeians and patricians, 
225-226; political life in, 226-230; 


763 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


invaded by the Gauls, 230; expan¬ 
sion over Italy, 230-232; as ruler 
of Italy, 232-234; treatment of her 
subjects, 232-234; First Punic War, 

241- 242; annexation of Sicily, 
Sardinia, Corsica,, and Cisalpine 
Gaul, 242; Second Punic War, 

242- 245; Third Punic War, 245- 
246; annexation of Spain, Mace¬ 
donia, Greece, and western Asia 
Minor, 246-248; Greek influ¬ 
ence at, 251, 297-298; reforms of 
the Gracchi, 252-254; Germanic 
wars, 254; Social War, 254, 282; 
struggle between Marius and Sulla, 
254-255; annexation of Syria and 
Palestine, 255; annexation of 
Transalpine Gaul, 258-259; First 
Triumvirate, 258; rivalry between 
Caesar and Pompey, 259; under 
Caesar, 259-261; Second Trium¬ 
virate, 262; Civil War between 
Antony and Octavian, 263-264; 
Egypt annexed, 264; end of the 
republic, 264-265; reign of Augus¬ 
tus, 268-270; the early empire, 
268-275; under the Julian and 
Claudian Caesars, 270-271; burn¬ 
ing of, 271; under the Flavian 
Caesars, 271-272; under the “Good 
Emperors,” 272-273; conquest of 
Dacia, 273; under the “ Soldier Em¬ 
perors,” 275-276; the later empire, 
275-280; under the “Partnership 
Emperors,” 276-277; no longer the 
capital after the foundation of Con¬ 
stantinople, 278-279; division of 
the empire, 279-280; sacked by the 
Visigoths, 345; sacked by the Van¬ 
dals, 349-351, 440; end of the 
empire in the West, 349-352; 
“fall” of, 352-354; as the capital 
of the Papacy, 439, 443. 

Rom'u-lus, first king of Rome, 218- 
219; Au-gus'tu-lus, last Roman 
emperor in the West, 351, 359. 

Roses, War of the, 521. 

Ro-set'ta Stone, the, 64-65. 

“Roundheads,” the, 689. 


Rousseau (roo-so'), 699. 

Royal Road, Persian, 61. 

Ru'bi-con River, 232, 259. 

Ru'dolf of Hapsburg, 448, 524. 

Rum (room), sultanate of, 474. 
Rumania, 273, 341. 

Runes, the, 382. 

Run'ni-mede, 507. 

Ruric, 387. 

Russia, Swedish settlements in, 387; 
Christianized, 387-388, 491; influ¬ 
ence of Constantinople on, 489; 
conquered by the Mongols, 495, 
496; under Peter the Great, 677- 
681; under Catherine the Great, 
700-701. 

Sa'bines, the, 216. 

Sacraments, the, 425. 

Sagas, the, 380-382. 

St. Basil (baz'il), 430-431, 432. 

St. Benedict, 431-433. 

St. Boniface, 436. 

St. Brandan’s Island, 616, 617. 

St. Dom'i-nic, 437, 438. 

St. Francis, 437. 

St. Patrick, 435. 

St. Paul, 284, 325, 326, 327, 439. 

St. Peter, 439, 441; Church of, at 
Rome, 443, 598, 599, 637. 

St. Petersburg, 681. 

St. Remi, 363. 

Sal'a-din, 478-479, 480. 

Sal'a-mis, naval battle of, 136. 

Salem, witchcraft delusion at, 577. 
Sa-ma'ri-a, 56, 57, 326. 

Sam'nites, the, conquered by the Ro¬ 
mans, 231, 249. 

Sanc'ta So-phi'a, Church of, 387, 498. 
“Sanctuary,” right of, 428. f 
Sappho, 190, 191, 308. 

Sar'a-cens. See Moslems. 

Sardinia, 75, 124, 214, 232, 240, 242. 
Sardis, 61, 131, 164. 

Sargon, Babylonian king, 51. 

Sargon II, Assyrian king, 56-57, 88. 
Satrapies, Persian, 60. 

Saul (sol), Hebrew king, 54; of Tar¬ 
sus, 284, 326. See also St. Paul. 


764 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


Savagery, 4. 

Saxons, the, 341-342, 347-348, 368. 

Schliemann (shle'man), Heinrich, ex¬ 
cavations by, 104-105. 

Scholasticism, medieval, 570-572. 

Schools, Oriental, 90-91; Greek, 179- 
180; Roman, 296-298; medieval, 
567; Jesuit, 648; Dutch, 654. See 
also Education. 

Schwyz (shvets), canton of, 525. 

Science, Oriental, 90-91; Greek, 196, 
197-202; ancient and modern, com¬ 
pared, 202; Arab, 465; medieval, 
572-574; Renaissance, 601-603; 
scientific method, the, 603. 

Scip'i-o, Pub'li-us, 245. 

Scotland, the Piets of, 347; Chris¬ 
tianity introduced into, 435-436; 
the Highlands and Lowlands of, 
512-513; conquered by Edward I, 
512-513; becomes independent of 
England, 513; union of, with Eng¬ 
land, 687. 

Scots, the, 347 

Scribes, Oriental, 68, 90-91. 

Sculpture, prehistoric, 9; Egyptian, 
88; Babylonian and Assyrian, 88; 
Aegean, 106, 107; Greek, 205-207; 
Roman, 315; Arabian, 465, 466; 
medieval, 565; Renaissance, 598- 
599, 601. 

Scythians (sith'i-ans), 130. 

Sea-power, Athenian, 140; importance 
of Roman, in the Second Punic 
War, 243; in the Crusades, 483; 
Venetian, 549; English, 655. 

Sects, the Protestant, 645-647. 

Seleucus, 170. 

Seljuk (sel-jook') Turks, the, 468, 472, 
473-^74, 496. 

Senate, Roman, in the regal age, 224, 
225, 226; during the republic, 229- 
230, 244, 253, 254, 255, 259, 260, 
262; under the empire, 271. 

Sennacherib (se-nak'er-ib), Assyrian 
king, 57. 

Sepoys, 712. 

Sep'tu-a-gint, the, 174. 

Serfdom, in Sparta, 120; Oriental, 


290; during the empire, 290; in 
the Middle Ages, 418-421; and the 
Church, 449; under the Old Re¬ 
gime, 670. 

Seven Hills of Rome, 216. 

“Seven liberal arts,” the, 569. 

Seven Years’ War, the, 685-686, 714, 
720, 722, 724, 726. 

Shakespeare, William, 606-607. 

She'd, Hebrew underworld of the 
dead, 85, 113. 

Siberia, 732. 

Sicily, Phoenicians in, 75; colonized by 
the Greeks, 121; Athenian invasion 
of, 149-150; geographical situation 
of, 213; Carthaginians in, 232, 240; 
conquered by Rome, 241; Ro- 
manization of, 246; extended Ro¬ 
man citizenship, 260; a province of 
the Roman Empire in the East, 361, 
362; Norman conquest of, 393-395. 

Si'don, 76. 

Sieg'fried, 561. 

Sierra Leone (si-er'd le-o'ne), 614. 

Si-le'sia, 681, 684, 685. 

Sim'o-ny, 444. 

Slavery, Oriental, 69-70; Greek, 111, 

- 147, 182; Roman, 284, 291, 292; 
Christianity and, 336; decline of, 
in medieval Europe, 418, 534; and 
the Church, 449. 

Slavs (slavs), the, an Indo-European 
people, 100; the Germans and the, 
527. 

Social Contract , Rousseau’s, 699. 

Social War, the, 254, 282, 285. 

Society, in the Palaeolithic Age, 10-11; 
Oriental, 68-70; in the Homeric 
Age, 111-112; in the Hellenistic 
Age, 176; early Roman, 219-221; 
effects of foreign conquests on Ro¬ 
man, 248-251; under the empire, 
290-292, 305; influence of Chris¬ 
tianity upon, 320, 336-337, 448- 
449; Germanic influence upon, 
354-355. 

Society of Jesus. See Jesuits. 

Soc'ra-tes, Athenian philosopher, 194- 
195. 



765 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


Soissons (swa-soN'), battle of, 362. 

“Soldier Emperors,” the, 275-276. 

Solomon, Hebrew king, 54, 67. 

So'lon, legislation of, 122. 

Song of Roland, 560, 607. 

Sophia, electress of Hanover, 695, 
696. 

Soph'ists, the, 193-194. 

Soph'o-cles, Athenian dramatist, 191. 

Spain, Phoenicians in, 75; Cartha¬ 
ginians in, 242, 245, 522; conquered 
by Rome, 245, 522; Romanization 
of, 247; Csesar in, 259; extended 
Roman citizenship, 283; overrun 
by the Visigoths, 346, 522; invaded 
by the Vandals, 347; Charlemagne 
in, 367-368; the Arabs in, 368, 463; 
physical features of, 521; people of, 
522; invaded by the Moors, 522; 
Christian states of, 522-523; re¬ 
covery of, from the Moors, 523; 
under Ferdinand and Isabella, 524, 
619; under Philip II, 652-653. 

Spanish Succession, the, War of, 676- 
677, 720, 722. 

Sparta, Spartan government and soci¬ 
ety, 119, 120-121; early history of, 
120; her part in the Persian wars, 
131, 132; rivalry of, with Athens, 
140, 148-150; the Peloponnesian 
War, 148-150; supremacy of, 150- 
151. 

Spice Islands, 619, 620. 

Spices, use of, in the Middle Ages, 612. 

Spirit of Laws, Montesquieu’s, 698. 

Stamp Act, the, 724-725. 

States of the Church, 365, 442, 632. 

Stil'i-cho, Vandal general, 344-345. 

Sto'i-cism, philosophy of, 196-197, 
321-322. 

Stuart dynasty, the, 687. 

Sul'la, 254-255, 265. 

Summa Theologies, of Aquinas, 571. 

Sunday, Christian observance of, 331; 
laws relating to, 334-335. 

Superstitions of the Middle Ages, 
574-578; in America, 718. 

Su'sa, Persian capital, 61, 166. 

Sweden, 386, 658, 659. 


Swedes, the, converted to Christianity, 
384; in Finland and Russia, 387- 
388. 

Swiss Confederation, the, 526. 

Switzerland, the Gauls in, 258; be¬ 
comes independent of Austria, 525, 
659; heroes of, 525-526; the Ref¬ 
ormation in, 640-642. 

Sy-a'gri-us, 362. 

Syr-a-cuse', 124, 149, 286. 

Syria, conquered by Egypt, 48; king¬ 
dom of, 170; annexed by Rome, 
248, 255, 324; extended Roman 
citizenship, 283; conquered by the 
Arabs, 460; crusaders in, 475-476, 
483-484; overrun by the Mongols, 
496. 

Tacitus (tas'i-tws), Roman historian, 
310, 339-341. 

Tam-er-lane'. See Timur the Lame. 

Ta-ren'tum, 231-232. 

Tar'quin the Proud, 219. 

Tasman, Abel, 731. 

Taxation, Roman, 250, 287, 353; 
royal, in the Middle Ages, 504, 507- 
508, 517; English, in the Thirteen 
Colonies, 725. 

Tell, William, 526. 

Templars, the, 477. 

Temple, the, at Jerusalem, 54, 58. 

Temples, Egyptian, 47, 49-50; Baby¬ 
lonian and Assyrian, 66, 87; Greek, 
204-205; Roman, 311-312. 

Ten Generals, the Athenian, 143. 

“Ten Thousand,” expedition of the, 
162-164. 

Ten Tribes of Israel, 54-55, 57, 610. 

Tenochtitlan (ten-och-tet-lan'), 622. 

Tetzel, 637. 

Teutonic Knights, the, 527-528. 

Teutonic languages, 380, 558, 559. 

Theaters, Greek, 188, 189-190; Ro¬ 
man, 314. 

Thebes (thebz), in Egypt, 48-50. 

Thebes, in Greece, the kingship abol¬ 
ished in, 119; becomes independent 
of Sparta, 150-151; supremacy of, 
151-152; unites with Athens against 


766 Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


Philip, 159; under Philip, 160; de¬ 
stroyed by Alexander the Great, 
162. 

The-mis'to-cles, 134, 136, 138-139. 

The-od'o-ric, king of the Ostrogoths, 
359-361, 363. 

Theodosius (the-6-do'shi-ws) I, Ro¬ 
man emperor, 275, 280, 335, 344. 

Theophrastus (the-6-fras't^s), 197. 

Ther-mop'y-lae, 135-136. 

Thes'sa-ly, 158. 

“Third Estate,” the, rise of, 534-535; 
divisions of, 668-670. 

Thirteen Colonies, settlement of, 717; 
transit of civilization to, 717-718; 
political development of, 718-719; 
revolt of, 723-727. 

Thirty Years’ War, the, 656-660. 

Thor, 382-383, 384. 

Thousand and One Nights , the, 468. 

Thrace (thras), 131, 132, 144, 158, 
162. 

Thucydides (thu-sid'i-dez), Athenian 
historian, 148, 192. 

Ti'ber River, 215, 217. 

Ti-be'ri-us, Roman emperor, 271, 324. 

Ti'gris River, 45, 50. 

Timur (tl-moor') the Lame, 496. 

Tiryns (ti'rms), Schliemann’s excava¬ 
tions at, 104-105. 

Titian (tish'an), 600. 

Ti'tus, Roman emperor, 272. 

Toleration, religious, 334, 646-647, 
651, 654, 656, 658,' 700, 701. 

Tournament, the, 413. 

Tours (toor), battle of, 365, 372, 463. 

Townshend Acts, the, 724-725. 

Trade routes, in Asia, 75, 542-543; 
in Europe, 75, 543, 545; rediscovery 
by Nearchus of the sea route to 
India, 175; in Roman imperial 
times, 288; medieval, 542-545; dis¬ 
covery of new, 552; shifting of, 
due to discoveries, 615, 626. 

Trading, Oriental, 71-72; at Rome, 
under the empire, 288; in medieval 
cities, 540-543. 

Tragedy, Athenian, 189, 191; at 
Rome, 302. 


Tra'jan, Roman emperor, 272, 273, 
305. 

Treaties: Verdun, 371-372; Mersen, 
372; Augsburg, 650-651, 656; 

Westphalia, 658-659, 66C; Utrecht, 
677, 720, 722; Aix-la-Chapelle, 685, 
712; Paris (1763), 714, 722; Paris 
(1783), 722, 726, 727, 728. 

Trent, Council of, 649. 

Tribunes, Roman, 225-226, 227; the 
Gracchi as, 252-253. 

Trip'o-li, principality of, 476. 

Tri'remes, 134, 137. 

Triumph, the Roman, 236, 302. 

Triumvirate, First, 258; Second, 262, 
263. 

Troubadours (troo'ba-doors), the, 559. 

Troy, 104, 110. 

“Truce of God,” the, 406, 448. 

Tudor dynasty, the, 521, 686-687. 

Turks. See Ottoman Turks, Seljuk 
Turks. 

Tutankhamen (tbot-angh-a'mon), 50. 

Twelve Tables, the, 226, 284, 297. 

Two Sicilies, kingdom of the, 394. 

Two Treatises on Government , Locke’s, 
697. 

Type, movable, 596; kinds of, 597- 

‘ 598. 

Tyre (tir), a Phoenician city, 76; 
Carthage a colony of, 77; captured 
by Alexander the Great, 165. 

Ul'fi-las, 343. 

Ulm (oolm), 551. 

United Colonies of New England, 719- 
720. 

United Netherlands, 653. 

United States, formation of, 727- 
730. 

Universities, the Alexandrian Mu¬ 
seum, 173, 197; Arab, 466; medie¬ 
val, 567-570; in Spanish America, 
625. 

Unlucky days, observance of, in the 
Middle Ages, 576-577. 

Unterwalden (oon-ter-val'den), can¬ 
ton of, 525, 526. 

Ur'ban II, pope, 474-475; VI, 632. 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 767 


Uri (oo're), canton of, 525, 526. 

“Usury,” medieval prejudice against, 
545-546. 

Utrecht (u'trekt), Union of, 653, 654; 
Peace of, 677, 720, 722. 

Va'lens, Roman emperor, 344. 

Vandals, position of, before the in¬ 
vasions, 341; settle in Spain and 
Africa, 347; capture and sack 
Rome, 349-351, 440; become Cath¬ 
olic Christians, 435. 

Vassalage, 399-401, 405. 

Vat'i-can Palace, 443, 596, 599. 

Venice, origin of, 349, 549; part of 
the Roman Empire in the East, 362; 
participation of, in the Fourth 
Crusade, 481-482; during the Mid¬ 
dle Ages, 546, 547, 549; possessions 
of, 549-550; described, 550; during 
the Renaissance, 591, 598; decline 
of commercial supremacy of, 615. 

Verde (vurd), Cape, 614. 

Verdun (ver-duN'), Treaty of, 371- 
372. 

Verres, impeachment of, 256-257. 

Versailles (ver-sa'y), Palace of, 672, 
673; Treaty of, 722, 726-727. 

Ve-sa'li-us, 602. 

Ves-pa'si-an, Roman emperor, 271- 
272. 

Vesta, 221, 222, 289. 

Vestal Virgins, the, 222. 

Vienna, 524, 531. 

Viking Age, the, 380-382. 

Vi'kings. See Northmen. 

Vinci, da, Leonardo (la-6-nar'do da 
ven'che), 599. 

Virgil, 220, 297, 308, 309, 316. 

Virginia, the Raleigh colonies in, 717. 

Vis'i-goths, the, seize Dacia, 275, 343; 
position of, before the invasions, 
341; accept Christianity, 343, 435; 
cross the Danube and win battle of 
Adrianople, 343-344; in Greece and 
Italy, 344-345; capture Rome, 345; 
settlements of, in Gaul and Spain, 
346; Romanized, 346; their king¬ 
dom in Gaul annexed by the Franks, 


346, 362-363; their kingdom in 
Spain conquered by the Arabs, 463. 

Vlad'i-mir, 387-388. 

Voltaire (vol-tar'), 698, 699, 701. 

Vulgate, the, 601. 

Wal-den'ses, the, 635. 

Waldo, Peter, 635. 

Wales, annexed to England, 512-513. 

Wall, of China, 40, 41; Athenian Long 
Walls, 146, 149, 150; Servian, 216; 
of Hadrian in Britain, 283. 

Wallace, William, 513. 

Walloons, the, 552. 

Warfare, Roman, 234-236; feudal, 
405-407; abolition of private, 406- 
407, 448; during Hundred Years’ 
War, 518; and gunpowder, 574. 

Washington, George, 725, 729, 730. 

Weddings, Greek, 183-184. 

Week days, origin of their names, 82. 

Welsh, meaning of, 376. 

Wessex, kingdom of, 376, 389. 

West Goths. See Visigoths. 

West-pha'li-a, Peace of, 658-659, 660. 

Whigs and Tories, 693. 

William Prince of Orange. See 
William III. 

William the Conqueror, 391-393, 504. 

William the Silent, 653. 

William III, king of England, 693- 
694, 696. 

Windsor, House of, 696. 

Winkelried, Arnold von, 526. 

Witchcraft, 292, 403, 577. 

Witenagemot (wit'e-na-ge-mot), 391, 
392-393, 508. 

Wittenberg (Ger. pron. vit'en-berx), 
University of, 637. 

Wolfe, General, 721. 

Women, position of, in Egypt, 77; 
in classical antiquity, 179, 182-184, 
220-221; bettered by Christianity, 
337. 

Worms (vorms), Concordat of, 446; 
Diet of, 638-639. 

Writing, development of, 28-32, 46, 
107; ancient methods of, 32. 

Wycliffe (wik'lif), John, 635-636, 638. 


768 


Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 


Xavier (z&v'i-er), St. Francis, 649. 
Xenophon (zen'6-fon), Athenian his¬ 
torian, 163, 192. 

Xerxes (zurk'zez), 134-138. 

York, House of, 521. 

Ypres (epV), 553. 

Yu-ca-tan', 621. 

Za'ma, battle of, 245. 

Za'ra, 481. 


Ze'no, 196. 

Zeus (zus), attributes of, 112; Olym¬ 
pian games in honor of, 116. 

Zodiac, the, 89. 

Zo-ro-as'ter, 83. 

Zoser, 46. 

Zurich (zoo'rik), 590. 

Zwingli (Ger. pron. tsving'le). 640, 
641. 
















































































































































































































































































































































































































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